A Stranger
by sakura-blossoms-falling
Summary: A new girl shows up at Enoshima Soccer Club and she seems to know Nana Mishima. Is she a soccer player or is she just a girl looking for fun? Told from the POV of an OC.
1. Chapter 1

**This technically a prequel to the Kuroko no Basuke and Area no Kishi crossover, An Exchange of Sports, but can be a stand alone story as well.**

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****Chapter 1

A girl sat on the top of the bleachers and watched the Enoshima Soccer Club practice below on the field. She had an iPod resting next to her with the headphones in her ears. A sports bag was sitting on the other side of her and she had her feet up on the bench in front of her. One arm was resting carelessly across her knees and the other supported her head as she watched the players.

Without moving her head, the girl scanned the width of the field and saw three people standing off the field, watching the practice. One was an older man dressed in a suit and the other male was a younger man in a white and blue sweat suit with Enoshima written across the back. The short, brown haired girl standing in between them was also dressed in a sweat suit, but this one was red and white instead of blue and white.

The girl gazed at the trio for a moment and then turned her eyes back to the boys in the field. They were doing a passing drill with cones. The girl watched as the boys repeated the course over and over until the man in the Enoshima sweat suit called for a break and the sixty some members of the club jogged over for water.

The girl debated whether she should go down and introduce herself, or sit where she was and continue watching. She decided to stay where she was until the next break. She didn't have to wait long as the coach called for another rest and she saw the girl who had been standing with him and a few others circulate through the players, handing out water bottles and towels.

She grabbed her iPod and her sports bag and descended the bleachers. On her way down, she took the right headphone out of her ear and let it dangle in front of her. She kept the left one in because she liked the song that was currently playing. As she reached the bottom of the bleachers, two of the players finally noticed her.

"Who are you?" A tall, slightly spiky, brown haired boy asked her. At his question, other heads began to turn and they all stared at the short, black haired girl with her long hair tied back in a ponytail.

The girl looked at the boy and guessed that he was a captain seeing as she had seen him give instructions to the other players during practice and had an air of authority around him. She was silent as she scanned the faces that were looking at her. She was used to people looking at her so this didn't bother her one bit.

"Rin?" A surprised female voice broke the silence and all the heads swung towards Nana who was standing next to Kakeru with a water bottle in her hands. She was staring at the newcomer in complete surprise and a little confusion. She walked towards the girl and she asked, "Why are you here?"

Rin's brilliant violet eyes did a quick once over Nana before focusing back onto her eyes. She considered her answer for a second and then opened her mouth. She was beaten to the punch by Kakeru coming up next to Nana and asking. "Do you know her, Seven?"

Nana looked at him and nodded. "I used to play soccer with her in America. I don't understand why you're here though."

"I decided to study in Japan for a while since their soccer teams are getting better," Rin replied slowly. She looked down for a second and paused her music, sighing slightly as she put the device into a side pocket of her sports bag.

"Spying?" Nana asked.

Rin gave a crooked smile. "Half and half?" Rin raised a shoulder and then let it drop.

The coach came over and looked at Rin, who was still standing on the other side of the divider that separated the bleachers from the field. "You are a friend of Nana's?" He smiled at her.

Rin blinked and then thought. She and Nana had only played together once in a while. They certainly knew that each other were strong and talented players, and they were on friendly terms, but to call each other friends was stretching it a little. "I…guess?" She shrugged again, uncertainly.

The coach looked at Nana who was staring at Rin. "Well, why did you come to Enoshima? This school doesn't have a girl's soccer team." Nana told her.

Rin started and her mouth hung open from shock. "Seriously? No girl's soccer team? What the heck?" Rin looked down and scratched her head in confusion. "This was a waste of time, then." She sighed and muttered to herself, "What am I going to tell Coach?" She rubbed a hand over her face and then straightened up and looked at Nana. "I guess...David'll just have to deal." A sinister smirk curved her lips upward.

Nana hesitated, she knew Rin's coach from reputation and knew that he wasn't someone you wanted to cross. "You can be a manager for the boy's team, like me," she suggested.

Rin stared at her blankly. "A what?" She had a totally ignorant face on. A manager, as she knew it, was someone to handle the teams schedule for public appearances and money funds. Nana did not look she did that and frankly, Rin wasn't very good with numbers or talking with other people so she didn't wish to be a manager.

Nana gave a small chuckle. "It's not what you're thinking. A manager, here, means that you just take care of the players, like being…hmmm…" she searched for the word. "Oh, like busboys."

Rin stared incredulously at her. "I do grunt work! Hell no!" Rin shook her head to fiercely that her ponytail whipped her left cheek and she winced at the sting. She hated that idea even worse then the other one she had thought it was. No way was she going to be at the beck and call of these kids.

Nana sighed. "It's not that bad and you get a lot of freedom."

Rin glared at her and then at the boys. Most of them flinched involuntarily at her icy glare. "I'll think about it." Discussion ended. Nana knew better than to press the issue. Rin's short temper was known throughout most of the league Rin was in.

Iwaki broke in to break the ice that had settled. "Well, maybe you can practice with us. Nana, would you like to show her the ropes?" He smiled at her and she nodded.

Rin's eyes lit up at the prospect of playing and she took a step back from the divider and took her sports bag off her shoulder and threw it over. Then she took a running step and put both hands on the top of the divider and did a graceful flip over and pushed off with her hands, landing on her feet like a professional gymnast. She picked up her bag and once again slung it over her shoulder. She then looked over at the Coach's and the rest of the boys' shocked faces. She raised an eyebrow and asked indignantly, "What are you all looking at?" She tilted her head to the side and gave a small smirk.

Nana hid a smile as she turned her head away. Iwaki also looked at the new girl with interest. Rin tossed the end of the ponytail back over her shoulder and stood with her hand on her free hip as she surveyed the group of boys. _This just might be more interesting than I first thought._

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**Just as a warning, this story is going to be updated differently than the other one. The last one I had written out in advance, but this one is going to be as I go along so updates will be sporadic.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Bold **is English speaking.

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Chapter 2

The sun was setting as the players all changed out of their workout clothes and back into the school uniforms. Rin was leaning against the tall fence that was near a corner of the building and watched the players come out of the clubroom. She had both of her headphones in her ears and her head bobbed slightly at the song that was playing.

Her head came up as Nana and Kakeru walked past. "Wait, Nana," Rin called as she pushed off the fence and pulled one headphone out of her ear.

The pair stopped and looked at the foreigner. "You're not going to change?" Kakeru asked curiously. Rin looked down in surprise; she was still wearing the clothes that she had practiced in. She looked up and gave the striker a quizzical look.

"Why would I change? I'm fine." She glanced down at herself one more time.

Nana chuckled and explained. "Usually, after practice, the players change out of their workout clothes." She indicated the Enoshima uniforms that the two wore.

"But can't you just change when you get home?" Rin asked, completely at a loss.

"Well, some live far away," Nana said.

Rin slapped her forehead and sighed. "Forget I even asked." She fell into step beside Nana as the trio left the school. On their way, the two girls talked about some of the games that Rin had played since Nana had left and Nana told Rin about her playing for Nadeshiko Japan. When she told her this, Rin had whistled in amazement. "Nadeshiko Japan, huh? Wow, that's impressive. You beat me by a long shot! I'm only on the U-17 team right now."

Nana laughed. "Well, I bet it's because you like to play mind games with your opponents. You can't really do that in the WNT."

"That's true, I guess," Rin mused. She did like to mess with people's heads during a game, but that's what most of her team's plays were centered around, tricks and uncertainty. They walked in silence for a few blocks when Rin suddenly stopped at a side street. "My apartment is this way," she pointed down the street. "I'll see you guys tomorrow!" She waved as she began to walk away.

"Bye!" Nana called back.

"See ya!" Kakeru said.

Rin smiled and turned around. She walked slowly down the sidewalk, enjoying the silence and the crisp air that was brought on by the setting sun. She reached down to grab the stray headphone and reached up to put it back in its place in her ear. Her step quickened with the upbeat song and a happy smile spread across her face.

She was eager to get home and eat ramen and then go to bed. She had to get up early for her first day of school.

* * *

Rin was fighting for her life in a medieval suit of armor against a pack of blood thirsty bandits. She was backed up against a sheer drop and the bandits were getting stronger and stronger with every passing moment. _What the heck kind of dream is this?_ Rin cursed as her sword clanged repeatedly against the bandits' weapons. As her sword connected again and again, the metallic clangs turned into a strange beeping sound. _What the heck is that annoying beeping?_ A rush of panic brought Rin to the waking world and she bolted straight up in her bed.

She whipped her head around frantically, her loose hair whipping her in the face and obscuring her vision. _What? What is it? I can still hear it!_ Then she realized that it was her phone alarm, telling her to wake up for school.

She looked at her night stand where she had put her phone the night before and grabbed it. She turned the alarm off and sat there in a daze for a second before groaning and falling face first back onto her pillow. "**I dun wanna go ta school!**" She lamented. She snuggled back down and dozed off.

Twenty minutes later, she shot back up, her heart thumping in her chest. She looked around her room, disoriented. She realized that she had fallen asleep again. It was now 8 am and school started at 8:30. She flew out of bed and started to get change. She looked around for her uniform and saw it hanging over a chair. She grabbed it and started pulling it on.

She flew through her bathroom routine and then she raced out of the door, grabbing a breakfast bar on the way out. She had her school bag slung over one shoulder and her sports bag on the other. "**Dammit! First freaking day and I'm late!**" She mentally hit herself for falling back asleep.

She was late to school and she ran through the halls to where the teacher's lounge was. She met her homeroom teacher just as he was leaving. "Ah! Mr. Yoshida, sorry I'm late!" She bowed in apology. The homeroom teacher smiled at her.

"That's okay; just make sure to be on time from now on."

Rin nodded. "I will be." She followed him to the second year homeroom and was told to wait outside. Standing outside the door, she could hear the teacher say that they were going to have a new student join them.

Rin quickly checked her reflection in a window and winced. Since she had had no time to properly brush her hair, it looked as if she had just rolled out of bed…which she had, in fact. She sighed and shrugged to her reflection. There was nothing she could about it now.

"Rin Faolin, please come in." Rin opened the door and stepped through. She had one hand tangled in her hair as she tried to smooth out the knots in her hair. She looked up briefly and gave a small bow.

"I'm Rin. I'm from America and I love soccer." She gave her hand a hard yank and winced as her hand came free along with pulling several hairs out of her scalp. She rubbed her sore head and grabbed the hanging hairs and threw them in the garbage.

The class was abuzz with murmurs, which didn't seem to affect Rin in the slightest. She looked at the teacher, "Where do I sit?" She hid a yawn behind her hand as she waited for his reply.

Mr. Yoshida pointed to an empty desk beside a tall boy with glasses and short black hair. He looked vaguely familiar, Rin thought as she walked down the aisle and dropped into the seat. She looked to the front of the classroom where the teacher had told the class to open their literature textbooks to page 667.

She glanced over at the kid next to her and whispered. "Can we share? I don't have any textbooks yet." The boy nodded and Rin slid her chair over to sit next to him. She leaned her elbow against the desk and rested her chin on it as she followed along. Pretty soon, her eyes started to close and soon, she was fast sleep; her head perfectly balanced on her hand.

"Hey, hey, wake up, class is over." Rin groggily opened her eyes and started when she was the boy's face.

"Sheesh," she grumbled as she felt her heart to be sure it hadn't burst out of her chest. "What? What's over?"

The boy rolled his eyes. "Class. You slept through most of it." He was putting his notebooks and textbooks back into his bag. Rin just mumbled an okay. Now that she half awake, she stared at the boy, the fact that he looked so familiar, bugging her.

He caught her staring and asked, "Why are you staring at me?"

"Oh, you look really familiar. What's your name?" Rin asked, not taking her eyes of him.

He shifted uncomfortably under her gaze and opened his mouth to answer, but he was suddenly cut off by a loud and cheery voice yelling, "Ryoma!" A blonde teenager tackled the glasses wearing kid.

"M-Mako, get o-off!" The black haired boy gasped out. His friend let him go and turned around to face Rin.

"Hello, Rin. It's a pleasure to have you in our class." He held his hand out.

Rin just stared at him, blankly. "Excuse me?" She knew these people?

Mako tilted his head in confusion. "Yeah, you came to our practice yesterday. I'm Hyoudou Makoto; this is Oda Ryoma and Araki Ryuichi." He pointed to himself, and then the black hired boy and last was the long brown haired boy.

Rin blinked and then her face lit up in recognition. "Oh! _That's_ where I knew you! I remember now!" She chuckled and tapped her head, "I have a bad memory."

Mako just smiled. "Want to eat with us?"

Rin looked at the clock and saw that it was, indeed, 12:15 pm. She had really slept through class. She stretched. "Sure."


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm back! :) I am not exactly sure what I what to do with this story yet. I have to cover a month's worth of time in this story because that's how long Rin was in Japan before the events of ****An Exchange of Sports ****with the KuroBasu characters.**

**Edit 11/19/12: I re-uploaded this chapter because I just caught a MAJOR error. So all I did was delete it. Other than that, everything's the same so…**

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Chapter 3

Rin changed for practice with Nana in the girl's locker room. She had her iPod on a low volume and was bobbing her head along with the beat of the song.

"Hey, did you think about being a manager? It's not that bad, really," Nana asked as she pulled the t-shirt over her head adjusted it. She looked at the bobbing head of Rin.

Rin looked up from tying her cleats on and she shrugged. "Do I get a trial period or is it a do-or-die thing?" She gave the laces a hard pull and then switched feet.

"You could watch me for a little, I suppose," Nana sighed. She watched as Rin secured the laces on the other foot and straightened. "Ready?" She asked. She got a nod in response. She led the way out of the locker room and went to find Coach Iwaki. Rin trailed behind, one hand holding her iPod and the other swinging at her side. She had her eyes half closed as she listened to the music.

Nana knew from the short time she had spent with the striker; that she was addicted to music and was hardly ever apart from her iPod. She even practiced with it. They walked onto the field and saw Iwaki was having a discussion with Sawamura and Kondou, the assistant coach.

Iwaki saw her approaching and paused in the conversation. "Hello, Mishima-san," he greeted her with a smile.

She dipped her head in return, "Hello, Coach Iwaki, Coach Kondou and Captain Sawamura. Is it okay if Rin follows me around for a while?" She asked.

Iwaki looked over her shoulder in confusion. "Uh, where is she?"

Nana turned around in surprise. "What? Where'd she go?" She scanned the field and saw a long braid swinging as its owner ran over to Mako and Oda. "Rin~!" She sighed.

Iwaki chuckled behind her. "She can practice with us, of she wants to, Mishima-san."

Nana looked at her coach gratefully. "Thank you so much."

90909090909

Rin jogged over to where Mako and Oda were stretching. "Hello," she said as she stopped in front of them.

Mako looked up with a smile. "Rin! Hello, how are you? Did you come to practice with us?"

She gave him a thumbs-up. "Yup, hopefully, you guys won't kick my butt too bad." She snickered.

Oda looked at her with narrowed eyes. "Is it okay that you practice with us? You're a girl…" he trailed off at the icy glare Rin was giving him.

"And just what does me being a female have to do with anything here?" Rin challenged as she set her hands on her hips and raised her chin to stare daringly into Oda's eyes.

He fidgeted. "I-I didn't mean it that w-way," he stuttered. He looked at Mako for help. Mako turned away with a smirk on his face, he was clearly enjoying this.

Rin held her glare for a second longer and then broke into a grin. She slapped the midfielder on the shoulder, "Whatever. It doesn't really matter anyway." She peeked down and saw a soccer ball at his feet. She put a foot on it and rolled it away from him as she tucked her iPod safely in her pocket.

"Oi," Oda reached for the ball with his foot, but she slipped it behind her. She stood there, smiling at him in a clear challenge. Her smile grew bigger when the song changed to one of her favorites.

"Play with me!" She rolled the soccer ball under her foot back and forth, tauntingly.

"I'll play!" Mako volunteered. "One on one?" He asked as he stood in front of her.

"Why not? If I can get it into that goal over there-" she pointed to the far goal, "-then I win. If you can get it into this goal-" she pointed to the goal behind her, "-then you win. Okay?" Mako nodded.

She smiled at him and lazily kept rocking the ball where it was, waiting for her opponent to make a move. Mako studied her movement carefully and waited to see if she would try anything. When she did nothing, he decided to chance it and go for the ball.

He rushed forward and threw a shoulder out to knock her off the ball. He met no resistance and he stumbled as Rin swept around him in a neat half circle and was jogging for the goal. He ran after her and once again got in front of her. She stared with an amused face at the blonde.

This time, he waited for her to make the first move. For a full three seconds, neither moved and then Rin suddenly started moving…backwards. She ran backwards, taking the ball with her. Mako was slow to follow as he tried to wrap his head around what she was doing. When she had gone a few steps, she flicked the ball up with her toe and bounced it off her knee, straight up over their heads.

Mako looked up and tried to see the soccer ball against the glare of the sun. He thought he saw it and set himself up to jump for a header. He was taller than Rin and knew that he would be able to reach it faster than her shorter stature would.

On the sidelines, watching the match, Nana hid a smile behind the sleeve of her jacket. "What's so funny?" Araki asked her.

"He's thinking that since he's taller than her, he will be able to head it before she can," Nana explained. From their position on the side, they could clearly see the ball starting to come down. "But he's wrong," she finished.

As she said that, Rin jumped up, put on hand on Mako's shoulder and pushed off in a flip. She spun around in the air on her side and a leg flashed out to meet the ball as it descended. Her foot connected and the ball rocketed into the back of the goal. As she was coming own, she spun around again to land on her feet. She bent her knees as she landed and put her hands out to the sides to balance herself. She looked like a professional gymnast.

The onlookers as well as Mako were stunned into silence. That is, everyone except for Nana. "Her style is similar to Mai Murasaki's, but her physical strength is greater than Mai's so her kicks go farther and are more powerful." The viewers all looked at Nana. They had played with Mai before and knew that she had a unique style, truly a player suited for the Nadeshiko Japan team.

Rin stood up and fixed a head phone that had fallen from her ear. She wrapped it around her ear again as she turned around to face Mako. "How was that?"

Mako took a second to answer. "That…that was…amazing!" His face lit up like a kid's as he congratulated her. "Can you show me how to do that?"

Rin was taken back, "Whoa, calm down. And I don't know if you can do that." She looked over to where Nana and the others were watching them. "Uh, I think I'm holding up practice. Sorry."

Mako grabbed her hand and held it tightly. "No way! That was cool!"

She shook her hand from his grasp, "Thank you, but it was nothing, really." She ran to stand next to Nana. She gave an apprehensive look behind her as she reached her. "That was shocking." She absently rubbed the wrist that had been taken prisoner by the excited midfielder.

Nana smiled. "Well, you should have seen them when Mai showed them her skills."

"Who?"

"Oh, I forgot you don't know her. She's a player for Nadeshiko Japan and she's the same age as I am," Nana explained.

Rin nodded like she knew what she was talking about, but on the inside she was completely lost. "Right," was all she said.

* * *

After that, Iwaki got the club members practicing again. The regulars were playing a mini match on one side of the field while the other players were doing passing drills on the other side supervised by Kondou. Iwaki, Nana and Rin were watching the practice match between the regulars.

Rin watched closely, as the players ran back and forth on the field. The more, she watched the more she itched to play. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and grabbed an extra ball lying near her and she began dribbling it around in a small circle. She just couldn't sit still whenever she was on a field.

Iwaki and Nana watched her as she dribbled around. "So, what kind of player is she?" Iwaki asked Nana.

"A genius," was the simple answer. "She is on equal level with Suguru and Leonardo Silva. She played with Leonardo a couple times."

Iwaki watched the girl continue to dribble, but now she was incorporating little tricks in the midst of dribbling. "Impressive. What position does she play?"

"Striker. She is the top striker in her age group. She has an impressive record; 15 caps and 79 goals."

This caused Iwaki to stare at Nana in shock. "79 goals in 15 games? That's a little more than 5 goals a game!" He turned his attention back to the still-dribbling girl, but this time, he was looking with a more critical eye.

Nana nodded. "One game, she scored 13 goals in a game. The game ended 15-1; the other striker, Liz, scored the other two goals. I think it was against the Dominican Republic?" She watched as Rin did three Maradonas in a row and then went back to dribbling.

"Amazing, I don't think even Suguru did that." Iwaki murmured in amazement.

"When I met Suguru in Mexico, she also went and they played a little one on one for a while until he had to leave. It was amazing to watch." Nana continued. Rin stopped dribbling and know she was juggling the ball on her knees and feet. As she moved, her headphone cord swayed and faintly, Nana and Iwaki could hear the music that was playing.

"Do you want to see her play?" Nana asked suddenly.

Iwaki looked at her. "You have videos?"

"No, I mean, right now. Put her on a team," Nana nodded over to the field where the regulars were still playing each other. "She won't go full out, but you might be impressed anyway."

"Hmmm, I think I will." Iwaki called out to Rin who looked up and trapped the ball she had been playing with under her left foot. "Do you want to play with them?" He indicated the players on the field.

Her eyes widened. "Really?! I can!?" A big grin lit up her face and she pushed the ball to the side.

Iwaki smiled at her enthusiasm. "Wait a moment." He called to the entire club for a rest and as the players were getting drinks, he told them that the regulars were going to play full field with one team getting Rin.

Meanwhile, Rin had put her iPod in her bag and was out on the empty field, warming up. She did a few sprints and then stretched. After stretching, she proceeded to begin doing flips in the middle of the field. The players watched her as she completed a back hand spring.

"Okay, get out there and play!" Iwaki said.

The players all cheered and then, after deciding on the side of field they wanted, they split up. Oda walked over to Rin, who had just done a triple back hand spring. "You're on our team. Put this on," he threw her a red piney with the number 13 on it.

She grabbed it and smiled at him. "Thank you, Ryoma! 13's my favorite number!" She pulled the piney over her head and then looked at him. He was frozen. "Uh, Ryoma?" She waved a hand in front of his face. He shook his head and looked at her.

"Ryoma? Who said you could call me that?"

Rin was confused, "But isn't that your name?"

Oda cleared his throat. "You're a foreigner so I suspect you wouldn't know this." He took a deep breath, "In Japan, you don't call people by the given names unless you're close to the person."

"Oh, I didn't know that, but okay, Oda." Rin frowned as she said his name. "That feels so weird to say, so I'll stick with Ryoma." She turned around and walked away before he could sputter a protest.

She stood in front Kakeru and looked at him. "Are you the other striker?" He nodded. "Mind if I join you?" He shook his head. She looked at him curiously, "Cat got your tongue?"

He shook his head furiously. "No, yes, I mean, no," he sighed in defeat. Rin smiled and reached forward to ruffle his hair.

"Nice to play with you," she said. Kakeru just nodded.

The match started with the ball in Rin's team's possession. Rin tipped the ball to Kakeru who turned and sent it to Araki and then sprinted forward. Rin also ran forward, but at a diagonal and at a slow pace. She kept a sharp eye on Araki. From watching him before, she knew that he was a talented player and Nana spoke highly of him as well.

In the beginning, the ball bounced back and forth in possession with Rin not once touching the ball. After about ten minutes, Araki sent a through pass to Rin who was on the top left corner of the eighteen. Taking a quick glance around her, she set herself up to receive the ball. As the ball was almost at her feet, she spun around so her back was facing the ball and brought her right heel up and lightly touched the ball. It arced up over her shoulder and she took a step and then shot the ball with her left foot into the upper right 90 of the goal. She nodded in satisfaction as the ball dropped to the ground.

Kakeru ran over to congratulate her. "Nice shot!" They exchanged a high-five.

The teams reset and this time, Rin stole the ball right off the bat from the opposing midfielder. She dribbled to about the midfield of the opposite side and then turned and passed it back to Oda, shouting, "High!" She pointed up over her head.

He nodded and kicked the ball high just like she had wanted. It was a long shot and Rin ran underneath it. Just outside the eighteen again, she jumped up and turned in midair so her back was parallel to the ground. She whipped her torso back and brought her right foot up to meet the ball in a bicycle kick. The ball once against found the back of the net in blinding speed. She completed the flip and landed on her feet, bending her knees to absorb the impact with her back to the goal.

She straightened and rolled her shoulders loosely. She had a big smile on her face as she jogged back towards her side of the field.

They played for another thirty minutes with Rin scoring a majority of the goals. The play ended when the sun had turned orange and began to dip into the west sky. Iwaki called for the end of practice and the club members went to change out of their practice clothes.

Rin waited for Nana, not bothering to change, knowing that she'll be home soon. The three of them walked away from the school, Kakeru and Nana talking quietly as Rin listened to her iPod.

"Hey, Rin, where are you going?" Nana's voice snapped the striker out of her daydream and she looked around her. Nana and Kakeru were standing a few feet behind her at the street where she was supposed to turn onto.

She turned around and walked back to the pair, a bashful smile on her face. "Sorry, I got distracted."

"Hmmm, well, we'll see you tomorrow, good night." Nana waved as she walked away with Kakeru. Rin waved back as she turned down her street. She walked slowly, lazily towards her apartment; studying her shadow on the wall with interest. As she walked, she began making shadow puppets.

She had an intricate show going on with her shadow puppets by the time she reached her apartment. Unlocking the door, she dropped her sports bag in the entrance and kicked her shoes off. She grabbed a can of chicken noodle soup and, after popping the lid, she walked around her apartment, eating it.

After doing her homework in a rush, she made her way to her bedroom and plopped down face-first on her bed. She didn't move again until morning.

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**I have started the sequel to the other story, An Exchange of Sports and I want to finish it before school starts in a few weeks so this story will be on hold for a while until I finish.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I don't think I ever did this for this fanfic, but this shizz ain't mine. Only Rin is :) Now you can continue.**

**And I apologize for the shortness, but I have some serious writer's block.**

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Chapter 4

**_Another wonderful, beautiful, sunny-dammit, I wanna go back to bed!_** Rin trudged through the gate of her new school with a gloomy aura surrounding her. She went in a straight line from the gates to the entrance to her shoe locker. Opening it, she took off her outdoor shoes and slipped her indoor ones on.

Closing the locker door, she paused, feeling that something was out of place. "Hello, Rin!" A cheery voice shouted at her from down the row of lockers. Rin blinked slowly and sighed. There was only one person she knew who could be so cheerful in the morning.

"Hi, Nana," Rin said through a yawn. She lazily turned to greet her smiling friend. She stared at the girl with a hint of jealousy, how could she be like this so early?

"What's the matter?" Nana asked, studying her friend's face. "Tired?"

"Yeah, how can you be so…" Rin waved a hand at her, leaving Nana to finish the sentence.

"Energetic?" She suggested. Rin nodded. "Oh, well, that's just how I am," Nana mused. The two started walking through the school to their classrooms. "You're a second year, right?" Nana asked.

Rin nodded again, "I'm in the same class as Araki, Mako and Oda." She swerved to one side to avoid a group of giggling girls coming the other way. After they had passed, she rejoined Nana.

"I thought they would put you back a grade because of the difference in schools."

She shrugged. "**Dunno**." They came to a stair way and Rin pointed up. "My class's up there." She and Nana waved goodbye to each other and she headed up the stairs to her classroom.

Halfway up, her phone began to ring and she pulled it out of her pocket and looked at the ID. It was Liz, who was calling; captain of the U-17 USA Women's National Team. She answered it. "**Hello**?"

"**HI, QUEEN! HOW ARE YOU? I HAVEN'T HEARD FROM YOU IN FOREVER SO I THOUGHT THAT I'D CALL TO MAKE SURE YOU WERE STILL ALIVE**!" Rin winced as soon as her captain's overly excited voice came through the speaker.

Holding the phone away from her ear, she replied in a much quieter voice, "**I'm doing fine, Liz. I just haven't had a lot of time with settlin' in the new school and everything**."

Thankfully, her captain seemed to have gotten the hint to lower the volume and when she spoke again, she did so in a regular tone. "**That's great. I thought maybe you had fallen into the ocean and drowned, never to be found again**." Snicker.

Rin rolled her eyes. "**Yes, I am currently a ghost talking on a cell phone. Please, spare me**." She stopped at the top of the stairs as she continued to talk with Liz.

"**Oh, okay. Well, I just wanted to update you that we are going to have a tournament in Japan in a little over a month! So we get to see you again soon! And maybe you can play with us over there**."

Rin stopped in the middle of the hallway and asked in disbelief, "**What? Say again**?"

There was an exaggerated sigh on the other side. "**I ****_said _****that the U-17 Women's National Team was going to Japan for the U-17 Women's World Cup. It's being hosted in Tokyo this year**."

Rin nodded her head, even though they couldn't see each other. "**Oh, right, I had forgotten that it was this year**."

"**What? How can you forget that when you came to the selection camp? Just how absent minded are you**?!" Her best friend demanded.

Rin rolled her eyes. "**Come on, you've known me since kindergarten, I'm really forgetful**."

"**Don't I know it**," her friend grumbled.

Rin laughed and said, "**Well, I'm about to go to class right now so I'll call you later, okay**?"

"**Yeah, yeah, study hard, Queen**." She heard her friend give a big yawn, considering it was near the middle of the night there.

"**I'll try, see you, Liz**." Rin said her goodbyes and hung up before slipping her phone back into her pocket. _That cheered me up,_ she thought as she walked to class and slid open the door.

"You're late _again_, Ms. Faolin!" Her teacher yelled.

"Shit," she muttered.

* * *

**Sorry for the slow updates, but school has been a bitch. But the first quarter has ended so I have some breathing room...for now.**

**I'll try to update more now that I actually have time.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's another chapter and I have to say that I feel really bad for letting so much time pass during my updates, but I just have NO motivation whatsoever. But here. My friend guilted me into uploading.**

* * *

Chapter 5

"Woooo! GO NANA!" Rin and Kakeru yelled from the grandstands to their friend who was currently in a game against a JWSL team. Rin could see Nadeshiko Japan's temporary coach cheering from the sidelines.

Nana performed her famous trick, Witch Turn, to get around a midfielder and then sprinted for the goal. Taeko Ishiki was running square to her and she passed it to her. Mai Murasaki, another high school player, called for it farther up the field and Taeko passed it to her. The blonde forward one touched it into the goal with a bicycle kick. The crowd went wild with exhilaration when the ball hit the back of the net.

Rin smiled at the blonde's performance, she had a cocky air about her, but her skills made up for it. She remembered that Nana had mentioned the young player before, but only now did she know who she was referring to. She had to admit that while their styles were different, there were similarities.

The final whistle blew and the game went to Nadeshiko Japan. Kakeru, Kota, Takase, Oda, Kaoru and Rin all jumped up and down in excitement at their friend's win. After the game, they met up with Nana at the entrance to the stadium.

"Nice job, Nana!" Rin congratulated the brunette.

"Thank you for coming," she replied.

Kota bounced up and went to pounce on the girl, yelling, "Nana-cha~n!" POW!

Nana calmly brushed her hands together and walked away from the smoking pile that was once Kota.

Rin gave her a thumbs-up. "**Nice**." Nana returned it with an innocent smile.

* * *

"Hey, Rin, are you in there?" Nana and Kakeru stood outside of the apartment door, ringing the bell.

After a few seconds of silence, Nana sighed. "It looks as if she's not home." Kakeru agreed. The pair had just turned away when they spotted the striker walking down the street, carrying a bag in her hand.

She approached the two at her door and looked at them in curiosity. "What are you doing here?" She asked. She reached into her sweatshirt pocket and pulled out her keys. Unlocking the door, she led them into her apartment.

It was small, there was a single room for the kitchen and living room. Down a short hallway, there were two closed doors. One led to Rin's room and the other led to the bathroom. Rin set the bag down on the couch and Nana peeked inside. It was work out clothes. _Typical,_ she thought.

"We wanted to see if you wanted to go to the amusement park with us. Mako got some discounted tickets since his uncle own part of the place," Nana answered her earlier question.

Rin nodded her head as she got a drink from the faucet. "Sure, I haven't been to an amusement park in a while." She quickly drained the glass and put it in the sink.

"Are we going right now?" She asked as she rubbed her hands together in anticipation.

"Yeah, as soon as you're done," Nana said.

Rin nodded. "I'm ready!" The trio left the apartment.

* * *

They met the rest of their soccer team at the entrance to the park.

"You guys are so slow!" Mako complained. Without waiting for an explanation, he ran into the park with Araki behind him.

"What do you guys want to ride?" Rin asked as they followed at a slower pace.

"Hmmm, the Ferris wheel," Nana suggested.

"But that's a girl's ride. It's so boring," Yakumo rolled his eyes and was promptly hit on the head by Kota.

"Keep your opinions to yourself," he growled.

Yakumo glared right back. "_You_ keep your _hands_ to yourself." The two continued to glare and hiss at each other while the rest of their party quickly and quietly made their escape.

"Those two just don't stop," Rin mumbled as they left the two 'children' behind. "Kind of like Liz and Tsu; only _they'll_ actually whip out the punches." She smirked slightly at the memories of two of her best friends rolling around on the ground locked in a death match because of something the other said.

"Ah, I remember those two slightly. They were pretty loud." Nana sympathized with the striker. She hadn't spent a ton of time around the two, but she knew them because their 'friendly' rivalry was well-known through the league; as well as their skill...and their temper. Nana shuddered slightly.

"I would imagine that they're pretty hard to forget," Rin commented. She was looking at a map Oda had snagged at the front gate. "Hmmm, I want to ride the teacups. They look fun!" She pointed to the place on the map and the others quickly agreed.

Rin led the way to the ride and they found that there were only a few people in line. When the operator let them in, she quickly grabbed Oda and ran to get in one.

"Hey! Slow down!" Oda exclaimed. He tripped as Rin pushed him into the cup and shut the door behind them. He righted himself and turned around to scold the girl only to find her grinning and grabbing the turning wheel excitedly. "You're scary," he muttered.

Rin winked at him. "You bet!" Oda paled significantly. The ride slowly started up and Rin hauled on the middle wheel, spinning them in a circle, faster and faster.

_I'm gonna be sick!_ Oda thought as he grabbed onto the side of the cup for support and squeezed his eyes shut. Rin was spinning them around so fast that everything outside of the cup was a sickening blur.

_Oh my gosh! This is so fun! I can't believe I've never been on one of these before! _Rin thought as she grinned at the tense face Oda had on. Her arms started to get tired and the cup slowed it's wicked spiraling to only a faster-than-normal spin. She gave the wheel one last large heave and then flopped back to catch her breath and give her arms a break. Oda cracked one eye open when he felt the dizzying cup slow down.

He sighed in relief and risked a look around. Kota and Yakumo were locked in a battle in their cup. Each had two hands on the wheel and was fighting to turn it the opposite way. As a result, their cup was virtually still. In another cup, Kakeru, Nana, Kaoru and Takase were enjoying a thrilling ride with each member holding onto the sides.

Slowly, the ride came to a halt and each member stumbled out of the their respective cups, a little unsteady on their feet. Kota and Yakumo came off fighting while Nana walked slightly straighter than the others.

"What's next?" Rin asked as she exited the ride. Oda handed her the map and she looked at it and saw a few roller coasters near them. She pointed it out to the others excitedly and they agreed to go; much to Oda's chagrin.

When they got close to the big coasters, they could hear the screams of the riders. Rin looked up at it in awe. Nana stopped at the entrance and waved the others on. "I don't have a strong stomach for these kinds of rides," she said. "I'll wait at the exit." Oda elected to stay with her as he wasn't completely friendly with roller coasters either.

The rest of them stepped into line to wait. After about twenty minutes, their party finally got to the boarding platform. They piled in with a bunch of other people. Rin sat with Kakeru and fitted the snug restraint over her shoulders. The car started moving and she held her breath. She had heard the other people's screams as they rode and even though she didn't show it, she was starting to feel a little nervous.

The car slowly was pulled to the top of the first hill. Rin looked over the side and saw that they were just going up and up and up. She could barely see Oda and Nana standing below them. They were smaller than ants. She looked over at Kakeru and saw that he was gripping the chest restraint in excitement.

Their car crested the hill and then, suddenly, it started its downward plunge. Rin felt her stomach rise into her throat and she let out a shrill scream. The wind whipped her hair around her face and at the bottom of the hill; it turned sharply and then went up another hill. She felt her body whip around in her seat and she was grateful for the restraints.

The ride consisted of big loops and a couple spirals along with more monstrous hills. Rin's stomach never settled down for more than a second as she tried to keep her head straight and focus on what was up and what was down. When the coaster car completed its run and the restraints lifted, Rin stumbled out, her stomach doing its best to keep her breakfast inside her. She recovered quickly and bounced up and down in excitement.

"That was so much fun!" She yelled at Oda and Nana. "You guys missed out!" The others followed at a slower pace.

Nana smiled at her friend. "I'm guessing you enjoyed it," she stated.

Rin's grin split her entire face in half. "Of course! That was so cool! I can't believe I've never been on one of these before!"

"I haven't ridden a roller coaster since I was a kid," Kakeru said with a smile as he came up to them. "Nii-chan always forced me to go on the biggest ones." He shook his head. Nana smiled.

"Where to now?" Nana asked. She was feeling sort of hungry and she hoped someone suggested they eat, but she didn't want to damper their fun so she didn't say anything.

"I'm starving," Rin announced, holding her stomach in fake hunger pain.

Kaoru quirked an eyebrow at her. "You want _food_ after that?"

Rin smiled. "My stomach can handle that. No problem. This baby is made of steel." This was a tiny white lie as she had almost vomited as soon as she got off the ride.

Kaoru sighed, but didn't press the subject. Instead, he pointed out a hot-dog and hamburger stand in the middle of the street. "Anybody want 'dogs or 'burgers?"

* * *

**So this isn't the end of the amusement park episode. For the next event, should I have them play in a soccer match? I dunno. I'll figure it out later.**

**Thanks for reading :)**

**BTW: THE HOBBIT IS OOOUUUUTTT! I'm going to see it in three hours! I freaking LOVE everything about Middle Earth!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The Enoshima students spent the rest of their day at the amusement park. At some point, they ran into Mako and Araki…literally. Kakeru fell on his ass and Araki dropped his ice cream.

"Hey! Watch where you-oh, Kakeru, it's you." Araki broke off as he noticed the grimacing striker on the ground. "You should look where you're going." He said. His ice cream was slowly melting into the asphalt and he stared at it forlornly. "I finally convinced Mako to let me have some, too."

Kakeru bounded to his feet and apologized profusely to the midfielder. "I'm so sorry, Araki. I didn't even see you there. I'll more careful." This apology was lost on the senpai as he was too busy mourning his lost ice cream.

At that moment, Mako walked up to them with his arms full of stuffed animals. "Oh, Kakeru, where are the rest of the team?" He could barely see over the big giraffe's ear that was in front of his face. Kakeru pointed to a game stand farther down where everyone was playing a basketball shooting game.

Rin stood with her feet spread apart and she stared down the hoop with a burning intensity. Oda, Nana and Takase were lined up next to her in front of their own hoops with their own basketballs. They were all determined to win as the winner would get a $100 gift card to Sport's Authority. Rin had wanted a new pair of cleats and shin guards for a while and she was determined to get them. She let out a breath and then shot the ball up towards the rim. It rebounded off the backboard and hit the outer edge of the rim and bounced away.

She withheld an angry curse and grabbed her second ball. She could afford no more misses. She bounced the large ball on the ground a few times, still staring at the hoop.

A sudden idea lit itself in her mind and she turned to the manager. "Does it matter how we get it into the hoop?"

The young man looked at her quizzically. "You can't run up and dunk it, if that's what you're asking."

"Oh no, I'm going to make it from back here, but I wanted to know if it mattered how her get it in."

The young man shook his head. "No, not really; just don't cross the line."

Rin smiled and she thanked him. Nana, Oda and Takase were looking at her in confusion. She took a step back and lightly bounced the basketball off the ground. She kept her eyes on it as she kicked it with the top of her foot. It arced in a perfect path and dropped through the net, without so much as touching the rim. She threw her hands up in celebration. "Score!"

The young man whistled in awe. He had never seen someone do that before. He's seen them side-arm, chest shoot, over the head throw and a bunch of other unconventional ways to make the shot, but he had never seen someone kick it and make it.

Rin grabbed the last basketball and quickly kicked that one home as well. Nana was the only one to try it after her because their male opponents were too busy with their jaws on the ground.

Rin jumped up and down in joy when her last shot swished through the net and she turned to the operator and beamed at him. He was frozen for a few seconds and then slowly, he presented the coveted gift card. Rin quickly snatched it out of his hands and spun around in a pirouette.

"I've never seen so that. You're pretty good." The young man said, recovering from his shock.

Rin beamed at him. "Thank you! Have a good day!" She ran away to show her prize to Mako, Araki and Kakeru. She shoved the small card an inch from Araki's face in triumph.

He stumbled back a step and caught her hand to move it back so he could see what it was she was shoving into his nose. His eyebrows shot up when he saw the amount the gift card held. "Impressive. I'll buy it off you," he offered.

Rin was already shaking her head before he even finished. "No one is getting their paws on this baby. I'm planning to blow it in one go! **Ain't no one gonna stop me**!" She added the last part in English as she bounced away, clutching the card to her chest.

* * *

When the sun was beginning to turn a soft orange and the park began to empty out and slow down, Rin walked out of the park with Kakeru and Nana, having said their goodbyes to the rest of the team at the gate.

Rin lightly skipped along, one hand in her pocket, holding the gift card and the other arm occupied by a large leopard stuffed animal Oda had given her. He made an excuse that he wasn't into stuffed animals and practically shoved it into her arms. She had accepted it gracefully (with a small amount of teasing) and now she had her arm wrapped around its middle under its front legs.

"That was fun!" Kakeru said as he stifled a yawn. Nana agreed with him.

"You sound tired, Kakeru," Rin noted.

"Yeah, I haven't been to an amusement park in a long time!" Kakeru yawned again, but quickly covered it up in embarrassment. Rin smirked and Nana giggled.

"So, I will be leaving you guys here. Have a nice night," Rin said as she quickly skipped away, leaving Nana and Kakeru alone and looking awkwardly at each other.

Rin smiled to herself as she took a different route home; proud of herself that she had left the two alone. She reached her apartment and unlocked the door. Inside, she kicked off her shoes and carried her leopard into her bedroom and flopped onto her bed with it snuggled in her arms. She smiled unconsciously as she drifted off into sleep.

* * *

The afternoon sun beamed through the windows of the second years' classroom on the second floor. The teacher had pulled down the blinds in the front of the room, but left the ones in the back up. Rin squinted as a beam of light fell right across her desk. The warmth of the sun as well as the constant droning of the teacher's lecture made for the perfect nap environment and she had to fight to keep the sleepiness at bay.

Oda reached over when he noticed her nodding off and jabbed a pencil eraser into her side. She jumped up, startled and shot a glare in his direction which he returned without so much as a flinch. She rolled her eyes and focused her attention back on the teacher; or at least she tried to. Within seconds, she felt her eye lids growing heavy and she drifted off again into dreamland; her head precariously balanced on her hand.

Oda sighed as he saw her doze off again and decided to leave her for the teacher. He looked forward and continued to jot notes down. Rin would be asking to borrow his notes later. He wasn't sure of he should continue to spoil her or reject her. If it had been anyone else, he would have left them to fail a long while ago.

He absent-mindedly tapped his pencil against his notebook, his own thoughts beginning to wander.

Across the room, Mako glanced at the pair in the back from his position of three rows up and sighed when he saw Rin was already asleep. How she never got caught was a mystery. He switched his gaze to Oda and an eyebrow rose slightly. The serious second year was staring into space; something that never happened unless it was before a big game. He wondered what the midfielder had on his mind that would make him daydream.

His musings were interrupted by a piece of chalk flying at the back of his head. "Ow!" He turned around slowly and grimaced at the furious face his teacher was giving him. He was going to get it this time.

"Detention, Hyoudou Makoto! Don't let me catch you looking anywhere else but your own paper!"

Mako sighed and nodded. As the teacher huffed and turned away, he shot an envious look back at the two flower heads in the back that still weren't paying attention. "No fair," he muttered.

* * *

**I'm running out of ideas :'(**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Rin was changed and out on the field long before the boys or even Nana was. She slowly dribbled around the edge of the field, bored. She hadn't had a serious chance to play since she came to Japan nearly three weeks ago. She was starting to fear that she was losing her touch. She missed the competitive environment that a game had. She missed the feeling of putting everything on the line to win, the feeling of exhilaration she felt when her team won a hard earned game. She sighed again and absent-mindedly kicked the ball against the crossbar of the goal. She missed her friends, their arguing, their pranks and their tendency to get into trouble.

She envied Nana who got the chance to keep up on her skills with Nadeshiko Japan. She wondered if she could join a club team because she had already rejected Nadeshiko Japan's offer to play for them. Even though she was eligible to play for both the USA and Japan, she preferred the USA. However, a lot of USA players joined leagues in other countries. Honestly, she didn't care if she joined a club or national team, she just wanted to _play_!

She kicked the ball harder than she meant to and it hit the crossbar and sailed over her head. She slowly walked to retrieve it and saw that Nana and Coach Iwaki were talking near the sidelines, waiting for the rest of their club to join them. She jogged over to them. Maybe they knew of a good club team she could join.

The two turned to her as she approached and she saw that they had big smiles on their faces. "What happened?" She asked as she stopped.

Nana's smile grew wider. "We have arranged a practice match with KamakuraCollege today! They'll be here in half an hour."

Rin brightened up when she head the news. A well-known college team! Maybe she could play! They would be a challenge, maybe not international level, but close enough. "Can I play? PLEASE?!" She pleaded with Coach Iwaki.

The coach hesitated. "I'm not sure…" he trailed off. Even though she was a formidable international player, much on the same level (if not higher) than Nana, he had his doubts about her playing against a male college team.

Rin saw him hesitated and pressed forward. "Please? I haven't played seriously in _three_ entire _weeks_! If I don't, I'll die! I have seriously almost never gone this long without playing in a serious game!" She suddenly dropped to her knees and held her hands up pleadingly as she petitioned Iwaki with big-doe eyes.

He sighed and scratched his head. "We'll see," he said.

She let out a relieved sigh. It wasn't a 'no', but it wasn't exactly a 'yes.' "Thanks, coach!" She jumped up and went back to her ball and began dribbling around the field again. She hoped that he would let her play. If he didn't, she considered just running onto the field anyway.

…

Rin watched her team from her position of sitting on top of the crossbar of the goal while Akitoshi Li was beneath her, blocking shots from his teammates. She paid them no attention and they eventually got used to having a person sitting on the crossbar while they were trying to shoot.

She was the first one to see the crowd of players walking towards the fields and she shouted to the others, "They're here!" Iwaki called his players to him and he swiftly told them to start their warm-up, even though they had already been running around for close to fifteen minutes. The ones who were playing started to jog around the field in two orderly lines while the others made sure the field was clear of all obstacles. Rin stayed sitting on the crossbar and watched the college team walk closer.

A few of the older players gave the girl sitting on the crossbar some curious looks, but didn't say anything. She didn't offer a greeting either, there would be time for introductions later. The team greeted Coach Iwaki and then they got to warming up. Rin couldn't hear anything they said from her position and merely watched the older team during their warm ups.

They were experienced and built heavier than the high school team. If she played (which she was determined to) she would have to be more crafty with her playing style. She watched their movements as they warmed up and she couldn't help but be reminded of the U-17 Men's National Team back in her country. The women and men's youth national teams sometimes scrimmaged each other. It mostly ended with the boys winning, since they were bigger, stronger and faster, but that didn't take any of the fun out of the game. There were those precious few times when the girl's team would beat the boy's. They made sure to never let them forget it either.

Rin jumped down from the crossbar and ran to Iwaki. "Can I play? _PLEASE_?" She was going to ask him until he said yes.

The coach sighed and closed his eyes in thought. Rin stood impatiently, trying not to fidget. Finally, he opened his eyes and looked seriously at the striker in front of him. "Yes, BUT-" he tried to continue, but his lungs were crushed as she swept him into a rib-crunching, bear hug.

"Thank you so much, Coach! I will love you for the rest of my life! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She released him and ran off to tell the rest of her teammates the exciting news; leaving Iwaki trying to catch his breath and make sure no ribs had actually cracked.

She bounced over to Araki and started swinging him around by the arms. "Guess what! I get to play! In a real game! A REAL GAME!" She gave the stunned midfielder a hug as well and then pranced away to find-I mean, _tell_-her next victim-sorry-teammate.

"I guess she was happy about that," Nana quipped from next to Iwaki.

"Huh, I'd say so," the man grumbled, one arm wrapped around his abdomen.

…

Rin shifted her weight from foot to foot as she stood on the field, near the ball, waiting for the ref to give the signal to begin. Kakeru was next to her, ready to play. She scanned the opposing players and gave a mental smirk. When the other team heard about a girl playing them, they had snickered, while a few kind souls were actually _concerned_ for her. She'd leave them in her dust trail.

The ref blew his whistle, finally, and Kakeru started the game with a back pass. Rin was already maneuvering herself through the opposite team's defense, trying to get into a good position. A defender picked her up and she rolled her eyes.

The game started with Enoshima controlling the flow of the game and making some excellent passes and runs, but the college team adjusted quickly and came back twice as strong.

A striker and a midfielder managed to make it past Enoshima's two-man defense and headed for the goal. Kakeru and Rin, having pre-sensed the danger, were already after the two.

Both high school strikers only came up to the other players' shoulders. The difference in size and weight didn't stop Rin from slid-tackling the ball away from one player to the sideline. She sprinted after it, the other player, on her heels and managed to save the ball from rolling across the line. Now she was trapped between the line with the college player on her back.

She shielded the ball with her body as she tried to find a way around him. She spotted Araki out of the corner of her eyes and yelled. "Araki!" Without waiting, she made a blind back pass, through the other player's legs to her teammate. She ran around the player and up the field, to help in the attack.

Three well-timed passes later, Rin was at the mouth of the other goal, preparing to take the shot. It was only her and the goalie. She took a step to prepare and then began to swing her foot. She heard her teammates' screams of warning, but it all a jumbled blurb. They were saying something like "Look out!" But for what?

Her never-wrong sixth sense told her to jump and she did, holding the ball between her ankles. Just as her feet left the ground, a pair of legs slid into the spot where they had been a not even a second before. She did a back flip in the air, with the ball still secured between her ankles and landed. With a quick flick of her left foot, the ball rolled into the bottom right corner of the goal.

She let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding as she turned away from the goal and to her teammates who were all staring at her in amazement. She flashed them a grin and flicked her pony tail over her shoulder. "Why so speechless, boys?"

Mako and Araki were the first to react and they clapped her on the shoulder. "That was quite spectacular!" Mako cheered.

"You were almost as good as I am," Araki teased. She shot him a look and stomped on his foot. "Ow, ow, ow, ow," the midfielder grumbled as he hopped on one foot.

Rin's goal came in the first twenty minutes of the first half. The rest of the half, the college team stepped up their game considerably. Rin let a relaxed grin spread across her face as she welcomed the intensity of the game. She felt the familiar rush of adrenaline and excitement.

The rest of the half ended in a tie, with KamakuraCollege scoring a point soon after Rin's goal. Both teams agreed to play only half a game, so as to avoid injury. It was only a practice game after all.

Rin stretched her arms above her head as the game ended and the teams congratulated each other. She had wanted to play a full game. Now what was she supposed to do?

Coach Iwaki thanked KamakuraCollege as they left and then spoke to his team for a bit. "Next week, we will be going to another training camp. Have your parents sign these permission slips and return them to me by Friday." Nana helped pass out the papers and then he dismissed the members.

"What should I do?" She asked Nana as the trio walked to their homes. She didn't have any parental figures in Japan.

"Well, I can ask my parents to sign it for you. The school just wants to make sure that you're accounted for and whatnot so if you get hurt, then they can figure out who contact." Nana explained.

Her friend looked at her with large, wondering eyes. "You would really do that for me? I love you!" She pounced on the unsuspecting girl and wrapped her in a tight hug.

"Uh, y-you're welcome," Nana stuttered out as her ribs were crushed under her friend. Rin let go and then handed her the paper. "I'll give it to you tomorrow."

"So, will there be haunted houses or adventures into the unknown? Or will it be very strict? Like the whole, "This is what you're doing, no if, ands or buts about it!"" She gave a lame impression of a manly voice, but she ended up cracking up since she couldn't keep a straight face.

Nana smiled. "The last time we had a training camp, the boys got to do a haunted hunt, thing. It was fun."

Rin sighed. "To be completely honest, I hate scary stuff. Can I opt out?" She hated that she was scared of fake things. She knew full well that they weren't real and never would be, but the whole concept creeped her out.

Both of her companions looked at her in surprise. "You don't like scary stuff?" Kakeru asked, incredulous. He had assumed that the other striker would be all for that stuff.

Rin shook her head and looked around apprehensively. "I hate watching scary movies and whatnot. I even hide out in my room for Halloween. It is awful how bad I am with scary stuff." She rubbed the goosebumps that had made themselves comfortable on her arms. Just the thought of ghosts and ghouls made her not want to sleep.

"I'm sure you'll be fine. Most of it is just fake and obvious," Nana said, trying to sooth her fears.

"I know, but still..." Rin whined. "It's freaky."

"We'll be with you," Nana said. Kakeru nodded in agreement.

Rin smiled at them, "You guys are the best. Liz and Kat would have thrown be head first into a haunted house. Actually, they already have." She shuddered at the memory of her best friend's attempt to cure her of her fear. Instead of curing it, their attempts had only reinforced it.

"We'll be good." Nana said.

"Good. I would have lost my sanity at the sight of the first spirit...thing..."

"Well, you don't have to worry about it for a while now. Don't worry about it right now," Nana said as they stopped at Rin's street.

She sighed and nodded. "I'll try. Have a good night, you two." She waved to the pair before walking to her apartment.

* * *

**I have no excuse for my procrastination.**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"We're here!" Kakeru cried as he jumped off the bus and stretched his legs. Rin wasn't far behind him as she and the rest of the club barreled off the bus. It had been a long bus ride and she was relishing the fresh blood that was coursing through her sore legs.

They were only about a five minute walk to a small town that had a medium sized amusement park. Iwaki had already let them know that they could get one day to enjoy the park.

"The fresh air!" Rin inhaled deeply as she stretched her arms above her head. She exhaled in a rush and turned to look at the establishment that their coach had rented especially for them. Since they were such a large club, they had to rent an entire building.

The hotel they were staying in for the five days they would be there was a quaint place that looked well-kept. It was a small family owned building and was a popular tourist spot. Apparently, a lot of people enjoyed the chance to get away from the hectic hustle and bustle of the city.

From the front entrance, a middle aged woman and her husband appeared to greet their customers. Iwaki went to talk to them while the high schoolers roamed around the perimeter.

"Look, Nana! Fish!" Rin exclaimed as she knelt next to a shallow, natural pool.

The second girl leaned down next to her and peered in. To be sure, she saw a school of medium sized koi swimming around aimlessly.

"They look so cute!" Rin cooed. She loved all things cute.

Nana agreed. "They do have beautiful scales."

"Let me see!" Kakeru dropped to his knees next to him and looked at the fish. He dipped a finger slowly in the pool, making it ripple.

"Hey, you'll scare them off!" Araki warned as he stood over Kakeru's shoulder.

"I just want to touch one!" Kakeru protested as he inched his finger closer to the milling fish, trying not to make too many ripples.

Just as he got within a few inches of the closest fish, a white and orange one, it darted away, along with its brethren.

All the onlookers let out long sighs of frustration. "Fishies, come back!" Rin called to the fish who were huddled in the far corner of the pool.

"Guys! Let's go inside!" Iwaki called from the entrance. Everyone picked up their stuff and made for the door.

Inside, the place was simple, yet there was a sort of homeliness to the place that instantly made Rin feel like she had returned home.

Along the hallways, there were various painting and photographs of the natural landscape that surrounded the place. There were some pictures of the various types of wildlife that lived near the hotel as well.

Rin kept stopping to look at the pictures of the animals and almost lost her party many times.

"This will be the girl's room," the hostess said, stopping at a door. Nana opened it and gasped, along with the other female managers.

The room was very large and had beds arranged in a circle near the middle of the room. Above the beds, in the center of the circle hung a glass chandelier. The room itself was circular and had an even number of support beams near the outside of the circle of beds.

"This is so cool!" One of the managers exclaimed. The girls all crowded into the room and fluttered around in excitement. Rin followed, having been delayed by a photograph of a momma and baby deer drinking from a glittering pool in the forest.

She took the room in with a critical eye and then nodded to herself in satisfaction. It reminded her of a princess's room.

"Do we get rooms like this?!" Araki demanded as he and the boys closest to the door looked around in awe.

The hostess chuckled. "I'm sorry, but this is our best suite. The rest of you will have rooms of four. This way, please."

She turned away from the girls' room and headed down the hall again.

The boys' rooms were in a different part of the building since the girls' had the premium suite. It even had a Jacuzzi tub and a flat screen TV in the large entertainment center.

The males' rooms looked like ordinary hotel rooms with four beds and a bathroom.

Rin couldn't help but snicker at the difference in the rooms. She knew that being born a girl had its advantages.

Nana seemed to agree with her as the two of them teased Kakeru, Araki, Mako and Oda about it endlessly when the group sat down for dinner.

"So, what do you guys want to do tonight?" Rin asked as the rest of the boys and girls went to their rooms to finish their unpacking and getting ready for the intense training the next day.

"Well, we have to get early tomorrow, so why don't we play a quick card game and then go to bed?" Nana suggested. She looked at Kakeru who nodded in agreement.

"I have cards!" Rin said as she ducked into her room and return a few seconds later, brandishing a pack of cards.

The two girls, Kakeru, Araki, Mako, Oda, Kota, Kaoru and Takase went to the large sitting room and sat on the floor in a circle.

"What do we want to play?" Araki asked.

"Poker!" Rin yelled out.

"I don't know who to play poker," Kakeru said.

"Oh, then, what about Egyptian Rat-Killer?" She suggested instead.

"I've never heard of that game before," Mako said.

"Well, it's known by a few different names, but I saw taught as Egyptian Rat-Killer. My friend call it a different name," Rin shrugged. "What matters is, how to play."

She shuffled the cards and dished them out as she explained the game.

After she had explained the rules and how to play, as well as answering any questions, she waggled her eyebrows and said devilishly, "Watch your hands."

The game started relatively slow since most of them were still learning, but after a few rounds, the game began to pick up and become intense.

"Got it! That was mine!" Rin yelled at Araki. Their hands were both touching the card.

"No, you don't! I slapped it first!" He tugged the stack of cards towards himself, but she tugged back.

"It was Araki's win," Kakeru said timidly.

"No! I got it first! His hand is clearly on top!" Rin protested loudly. She pointed at the fact that his pinky finger was on top of her thumb.

Araki scoffed. "That doesn't mean anything. I got it first!"

"Just do rock-paper-scissors to determine the winner," Nana said as she watched the two with interest. They had really gotten into this game.

"Fine," they growled.

"ROCK, PAPER, SICSSORS, GO!" Rin yelled, fist behind her back. She whipped out rock while Araki presented scissors.

"No! Redo! Redo!" Araki cried as Rin gave a triumphant yell and pried his hand off the cards.

"Heh, heh, heh, foot fairy, these cards are _mine_!" She waved the stack in his face and he scowled at her.

The game went on with more scraps like the one Rin and Araki had gotten into. One was with Kakeru and Kaoru, surprisingly. Neither wanted to give up the cards as they also had to play a round of rock-paper-scissors.

Rin narrowed her eyes as she watched the other place their cards down and then her own. She was looking for that difficult to spot sandwich. She saw Araki put a 5 down and then Nana placed a 3 and then Kakeru slapped a 5 down on top of the other two.

Her hand shot out like lightning and slammed the floor loudly. She grinned evilly at Mako who had been a split second behind her.

"Hands off, kid. That slap was mine." Mako pouted, but withdrew his hand. Rin ignored the sting in her hand as she gathered the cards and brought them to her rather large pile. "I am so going to win this game," she smirked.

"Hmph, don't be too sure of that, yet!" Araki challenged. His stack of cards was about the same size as her own. Of the others, he had picked up the game the fastest. His reflexes were quite sharp, too.

"You are so _on_, pretty boy," Rin teased.

"Let's do this," he snipped back.

...

Rin threw herself onto her bed in despair. "I can't believe I lost!" She pulled her pillow over her face and thrashed back and forth in frustration. She had been winning, but then that brat had changed the tide and eventually won the game.

"Stupid Kaoru," she growled at the orange-haired first year. He had been holding out the entire game and then beat both Araki and herself at the end. She couldn't believe she had been played like that.

"He's cunning," she heard Nana say from the foot of her bed.

She took the pillow off her face and sighed, looking at the ceiling, absently.

"That was a good game, though," she admitted.

Nana smiled. "It was fun. Thanks for introducing it to us."

Rin grinned at her. "I play it all the time with my cousins. My older cousins introduced it to us one year at Christmas time. We've been hooked ever since." She rolled her eyes and sighed, "They also got us hooked on strip poker. I can't believe those two."

Nana stared at her with wide eyes. "Strip...poker?"

Rin nodded and rolled onto her stomach. "Yeah, I was...how old was I? I think I was thirteen when they suggested it. It's pretty fun, if you can get over the awkward part. Of course, our parents don't know." She smirked and winked at the blushing girl.

"You actually..._play_?" Nana asked in disbelief.

Rin shrugged. "It's not true strip poker, we do have limits. It's just fun because everyone tries their hardest not to have to strip. It's more challenging that way. We also play a lot of mercy." She grinned at the antics of her weird family when all the cousins gathered for family holidays. "At least I can say that we never have _boring_ family get-togethers." She laughed out loud at the shocked look on Nana's face.

"You've never played any kind of games like that?"

Nana shook her head furiously.

"Wow, we also play a lot of drinking games. Of course, not with actual alcohol, just soda and fruit punch for me! We go through a lot of non-alcoholic fruit cocktails and Shirley Temples."

"H-how old are yo-your cousin...exactly?" Nana stammered.

"Well, I don't know about actual ages, but my family has three main age brackets. There are the older grandchildren, which are mostly in their late twenties, early thirties, then there's the middle grandchildren, which is the youngest is...hold on...fourteen and the oldest is twenty...four-five?" She couldn't be too sure of all her cousins' ages. She had a lot of cousins. "Then there are the younger grandchildren from newborns, to age eleven. They mostly play outside or their own games.

Nana nodded. "Wow. I don't have a lot of cousins."

Rin shrugged. "Well, my grandparents had a lot of children with a lot of time between them. It certainly makes family get-togethers fun, though, so I'm grateful and not complaining at all." She suddenly got off her bed and headed for the bathroom. "I'm going to take a shower. Are you going to bed?"

Nana waved her on, "I'm going to take one in the morning. I'm going to bed."

"Good night then. Turn the lights, I have a flashlight so I don't bother you guys," she indicated the other girls.

"See you in the morning then."

Rin smiled and then closed the bathroom door.

* * *

**I apologize for not updating, even though it is winter break. I'll try to finish this story with in a few chapters. For now, though...**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

A gentle shaking caused Rin to stir from her sleep at the early hours of dawn. She rolled over, not happy in the slightest at being woken at this godforsaken hour. Not even the birds were up, yet! There must be a natural law that decreed one shouldn't be up before the birds.

"Leave me alone," she growled and swatted blindly at whoever dared disturb her sleep.

A light chuckle came from the source and Nana's soft voice answered. "Not a chance, we have to get up since we are part of the training today."

Rin sighed. "What do you mean _today_? It's still night time!" She continued to try and knock Nana's hands away from her body.

"All the other girls are up. We have to get the boys up, too. Coach is waiting for us."

Rin sighed and then sat up in bed and threw aside her covers. "Fine. I better be treated to an awesome breakfast with lots of bacon and breakfast sausage for this," she growled as she slid out bed and flicked on the flashlight on her phone. She shone it around, looking for some clothes. "Milk, too." She added.

She managed to find a pair of sweats and a sweatshirt and she pulled them on right there. It was dark and she didn't care enough to go into the bathroom.

Nana had graciously exited the room while her half-awake friend changed and was waiting outside the door as Rin opened it.

"Coach had better have a damn good training excuse for getting me up this unholy hour." Rin continued to growl and grumble as the pair made their way to the other boys' room.

Nana had never seen Rin in the morning before, and she had to admit that it was an intimidating sight. She had known that she wasn't a big morning person, yet she never could have imagined that she could be so...scary or cranky.

Somewhere on the inside, where the rational side of her lived, Rin felt slightly guilty for taking her morning irritation out on Nana. On the other hand, the side currently in control of her brain functions didn't care. Rin was quite aware that she was an unpleasant person to be around when she woke up, so she tried to give people fair warning to leave her alone and not disturb her in the mornings.

She must have forgotten to mention it the night before. Oh well, she would know now. Rin didn't have the grace to knock on the boy's door before strolling and turning on the lights.

She heard a loud groaning come from the four beds as their occupants shielded their eyes from the harsh florescent lighting.

Rin looked on without remorse. She really was a bitch in the morning. "Get up and get dressed. Sneakers should be fine and a sweatshirt. It's damn cold out." She told the boys before turning around and walking out to head to the next room.

Nana grimaced at the harsh way she had woken the boys up. Rin sensed this and turned a blank eye on her, causing her to freeze. "I'll be less of a bitch when I get some milk." She always felt so much better after drinking a glass of milk in the morning. The white substance was the only thing that could cure of her bitchiness in the mornings. In the meantime, she was an unhappy monster.

* * *

Iwaki looked at the half-awake boys in front of him and counted to make sure they were all present before speaking. "The reason I have woken you so early in the morning is to do some training. You are to run this trail, which is five miles long. You may go at your own pace, if you wish." There was a groan at the mention of running five miles so early in the morning, but when he said that they could go as slow as they wanted, they brightened considerably. Iwaki smirked to himself as he continued, "However, the managers will be running after you and if they tag you, then as punishment you 1) can't use the hot springs this evening, and 2) you will do sprints until you drop." All the boys paled at the news of the punishment. "So, technically, you can go as slow as you want, however, if you lag, then you will be tagged." There was a scary smirk of Iwaki's face as he addressed the boys and Rin _almost _felt bad for them. Then again, she hadn't had a change to get some milk from the kitchen so she didn't care how bad it was for them.

Iwaki raised a whistle to his lips and then said, "I will give the boys a two minute head start and then the girls will be coming after you." He blew the whistle and the boys dashed off, determined to put as much distance as possible between them and the girls.

As the boys disappeared, Rin shifted from foot to foot, impatiently. Before she had her milk in the mornings, it was as if there was another person in her body, one who was a lot more meaner than her normal self.

Even the other girls and Nana were a few cautious steps away from the volatile striker. Iwaki looked at his watch and then announced, "Go get 'em, girls." He had barely finished speaking when Rin took off after the boys.

She sprinted down the path, her irritation giving her energy. She could hear Nana running a little behind her as she sped up the path. She quickly caught up with some stragglers and tapped them on the shoulders as she swept by, not even breaking stride.

She quickly tagged five more guys and kept running. The cold morning air burned her lungs, but she didn't pay attention to anything other than who she would come upon next. She saw three more and even though they swerved and tried to avoid her, she tagged them easily. She could hear Nana apologizing to the boys behind her as she sped off.

Within ten minutes, she came up to Kakeru who was running with Kota. The two spotted her behind them and took off sprinting in terror. They passed a trio of boys in front of them and when they turned around to see what they were running from, they saw Rin almost on top of them. They took off at an even faster pace as well.

The trio tired easily and Rin tagged them before running after the others. She had known that the regular eleven would be her biggest challenge and she was right. She couldn't even see Kakeru or Kota anymore, but she didn't stress. She would get them soon enough.

The morning sun had started to light the sky with soft hues of pink and purple and the birds had started to come out. She guessed that she had been running for about twenty minutes so that means that she was almost to the five mile mark.

She sped up a bit. She was close to the others, she could feel it.

She came up behind an unsuspecting Mako, who had stopped for a quick breather. He saw her and started sprinting. It was a tense three minutes as Mako ran for his life and Rin chased him. Finally, she allowed him to gain a few yards, but stayed behind him, nonetheless.

Mako saw Oda and Akitoshi jogging in front of him and he let out a strangled, breathless yell. They turned around and their eyes widened when they saw Mako with Rin right behind him.

"Run!" They started sprinting and caught up with Sawamura and Kakeru and Kota. Those three started pouring in the last of their reserves and quickly caught up to Araki, who had been walking. As soon as he heard running feet behind him, he started running.

The herd of boys came to Kaoru and Takase and spurred them into moving faster as well. Rin was sure that they were near the end of the trail and she increased her stride. Her lungs were burning, but she had no trouble putting on more speed. Apparently, it was more trouble for the boys in front of her. They were all stumbling and panting like dogs as they tried their hardest to stay out of Rin's reach.

They were doing a pretty good job at it so far. There was about thirty or so boys in front of her by the time they came within sight of the end of the forested trail. At the end stood Iwaki, smiling.

Rin decided to have a little more fun with the boys and she sped up even more and kept pouring on the speed. She went from being about fifteen feet behind the last member to being about a foot behind them in a matter of seconds.

"Shit!" She heard a kid curse as the pack started running for all they were worth. Two just stopped and started walking. They were so done. She ignored them, not bothering to tag them as she kept chasing the others.

The rest of the group flashed past Iwaki and tumbled into a sweaty, groaning pile. Rin stopped next to Iwaki and stared at the moaning boys on the ground.

"Good work, Rin. You really worked them," Iwaki said, appreciatively.

She shrugged and then looked at the hotel, which was on the other side of the clearing. The trail had led them in a giant circle. "Can I get some milk now?"

"Go ahead," Iwaki waved her good bye and she took off jogging for the kitchen. She entered the kitchen and saw that there were a few cooks at work. She made sure to stay out of their way and headed straight for the refrigerator. She pulled it open and spotted a crate of half-pint milk cartons. She grinned triumphantly and took one out. She opened it and then tilted her head back and chugged it. She didn't stop until it was empty and then she threw it away and grabbed another.

This one she took outside to where the stragglers of the club were just emerging from the trail. She headed over, careful not to spill her drink and approached Nana.

"That was quite the run, huh?" She asked.

Nana saw that she was normal again and let out an internal sigh of relief. "Yep, nothing like a good run in the morning to lift the spirit." She smiled.

Rin grunted and took a sip of her drink. "I could think of a few alternatives to 'lifting the spirit,' as you say. And it doesn't involve getting up before the birds." She smiled to let her know she was kidding.

"Alright, that's everyone. Now it's time to settle down for breakfast. Don't eat too much. You might-no, you _will_-regret it," Iwaki sent them off that lovely warning and the exhausted kids returned to their rooms to make themselves presentable before appearing at the dining room.

In the girls' room, Rin pulled off her sweatshirt and fanned herself with the corner of a blanket. She sat on the bed with nothing but a sports bar and sweatpants on. "What a jerk, making us do so much physical activity so early in the morning," Rin complained as she continued waving the blanket.

Although she was still complaining, her complaints lacked the hostility they previously had when she had first woken up. Nana was relieved. "Well, it is for the boys' benefit."

"They better be grateful for what I do for them!" Rin threw down the blanket and was picking her sweatshirt up when the door opened and Kakeru was standing there with Araki and Mako.

"Guys-AAAAHHH!" Kakeru started and then broke off, hiding his face at the sight of the shirtless female striker.

"The hell?! Close the door!" Rin yelled as she threw a pillow at the boys in the door. Araki reached around Kakeru, who was frozen, and yanked the door shut with a bang.

"We're so sorry!" The trio shrieked through the closed door.

There was absolute silence in the girls' room for a few seconds and then a girl started shrieking in belated shock.

Rin pulled her sweatshirt over her head and then jumped for the door and threw it open. "What the heck! Do you have no decency?!" She yelled down the hall at the trio's retreating backs.

She huffed and shut the door. "I can't believe they did that," another girl said.

"Stupid boys," Rin muttered to herself as she fixed her hair in the mirror.

Nana sighed. This was already proving to be an interesting training camp. She couldn't wait for the rest of the five days.

"Let's go, I'm starving," Rin said as she threw her brush on her unmade bed and opened the door. The girls followed her down the hall and into the dining room.

She noticed that Araki, Kakeru and Mako all avoided looking at the girls as they entered and got their breakfast.

She and Nana sat with the three and they all looked away. Nana giggled a bit before beginning to eat. "Did you enjoy your visit, this morning?" She asked, slyly.

Kakeru's face flushed redder than his bright red shirt and he ducked his head. Rin laughed and said to the three, "Just don't do it again. Or I might have to hurt you." She gave them an evil grin and they nodded vigorously.

"How was your morning run?" She asked them after a few minutes of silent eating.

Araki groaned at the memory. "I can't believe that Coach made us do that! My body is still suffering from it!"

"At least you didn't get caught," Nana commented.

"Yeah, that's a good thing or you would have been stuck in your room while we all enjoy the beautiful hot springs!" Rin pumped a fist in the air in excitement at the mention of the hot springs. She couldn't wait!

"I feel bad for the others who didn't make it," Kakeru said, sadly.

Rin shrugged, not remorseful at all. "They'll have to try again tomorrow. That is the reason for this camp, to get better."

"You're the one who got most of them out, in the first place," Mako stated.

"Too bad I couldn't get you lot," Rin sighed and snapped her fingers in mock disappointment.

"Coach wants to make that a daily thing so try hard again tomorrow," Nana said, effectively killing whatever happy mood had been there.

All three boys and Rin groaned in despair.

* * *

**Sorry for almost never updating. This story is giving me writer's block like nothing ever has before. i'll keep plucking away at it though :)**

**Thanks for reading.**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Rin watched the boys run sprints from her relaxed position, under the shade of big oak tree on top of a hill. The cold morning air had all but vanished to be replaced with the scorching heat of midday.

She sipped idly on her ice water as she watched the panting, sweating boys return for another sprint up the short hill. Although the hill itself wasn't that tall, the side Iwaki had chosen for the boys' to run was pretty steep.

After about the fifth sprint, she could see the weaker ones really begin to suffer. She felt bad for them, but reminded herself that everyone had to start from somewhere. She shifted her position against the tree trunk and sighed in contentment. She certainly didn't miss the crazy training exercises her fitness coaches would make her team do.

It was a welcomed break, but in the back of her mind, she was worried about falling behind on her conditioning. She had been participating in some of the boys' training, but it wasn't anything really intense.

_I might have to talk with Coach about a personal training regimen I can do on my own. I don't want to get out of shape._ Rin took another sip of her cool drink as she thought about it. For now, though, she would enjoy the relaxation and worry about conditioning another time.

She leaned her head against the trunk and closed her eyes. Even though she was in the shade, she could still feel the heat touching her exposed arms and legs as she sat there. It was like sitting in a hot bath, only without the water. It felt very nice and relaxing.

"Rin!" A voice called to her. She opened one eye and scanned around, looking for whoever had called her name. She saw Nana standing at the bottom of the hill, waving an arm at her. "We're going to another place, are you coming?"

Rin sighed and then slowly got to her feet. She really felt like saying she would just stay there, but she knew she would get lost if she didn't follow the others.

Nana smiled at her as she trotted down the hillside, taking care not to spill any of her water. "Having fun?" The other girl asked.

Rin nodded and lifted her glass for another sip. "It's really hot out here. I feel bad for them."

"Would you like to join them?" Nana asked.

Rin stared at her incredulously. "For real?" She shook her head, causing the end of her ponytail to slap her cheek. "No way am I doing any kind of physical exertion in this weather. Especially when I don't have to," she added as she tossed her hair over her shoulder.

Nana shook her head in mock disappointment. "I expected more from you, Rin. You've gotten lazy since you came here."

Shrug. "What can I say; I am a lazy person by nature." She looked around and saw that there was no one else in sight. "Where did everyone go?" She really didn't feel like being lost in the woods.

"They went that way. Don't worry; I know where we're going." Rin followed her companion a short distance to the sight of the boys' third training exercise for the day and she stared at the sight before her in a look of confusion.

"Exactly _what_ are they doing?" She inquired as she studied the scene in front of her.

"Fishing," Nana answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Which it really was. The boys were knee deep in a small lake, looking down into the water intently and hands poised to strike.

"For what?!" Rin exclaimed as she watched one boy dive for a fish and trip. He floundered in the water for a second until he figured which way was up.

"Fish, obviously," Nana said patiently.

Rin gave her a patronized look. "I mean why?" Nana chuckled.

"Do you want the official or unofficial answer?" She asked.

"Which ever one," Rin said as she sat down on a rock on the shore next to Nana.

"The unofficial answer is, 'For amusement,'" she pointed to where Iwaki and Coach Kondo were standing on a different rock, trying hard to keep the silly grins off their faces. Rin sighed and rolled her eyes.

"The official answer is to help with balance and hand-eye coordination along with balance," Nana continued. "See, the boys have to pick a rock to stand on under the water and they aren't supposed to fall off when they try to catch a fish."

Rin nodded as she saw Kakeru wind-milling his arms as he fought for balance after an unsuccessful grab.

A rustling next to her made her look at Nana who had taken her shoes and socks off and dipped her feet in the water. She let out a relieved sigh at the coolness of the water.

"Is it cold?" Rin asked. She hated cold water and was one of the reasons why she would never swim in a pool unless it was heated and her dislike for lakes was even greater.

Nana grinned at her. "It feels really good! Try it!"

"I don't cold water," Rin grumbled, as she dipped a finger in to gauge the temperature. "Hmmm, not that bad," she decided as she pulled her finger out and then kicked off her sneakers and socks. She slowly slid one foot in the water, inch by inch. "Oh, not bad," she said in surprise as she put the other foot in. She swished her feet around, making the water ripple.

"See? It feels amazing," Nana answered. She nodded in agreement.

* * *

The rest of the afternoon was spent at the lakeside. The girls had packed a big lunch for everyone and they all enjoyed it while teasing the boys about their god-like fishing skills.

Before Rin noticed, the air had cooled down and the sun had hidden itself behind the mountains. The light flashing colors of the sun set filtered through the canopy of leaves above the forest.

Iwaki called the end of training and the crew trudged back to the hotel. Rin walked a bit away from the others, looking around her and wishing she had brought her camera. The scenes of the forest preparing for sleep were beautiful. Everything was quiet, a soft lull before the night creatures came out. Photography was one of her favorite hobbies and one that she was quite good at, if she had anything to say about it.

She decided to skip dinner, and go to the hot springs. She was hoping to beat the after-dinner rush of kids to the springs. Well, at least the ones who hadn't been tagged. She was the first to the girls' room and swiftly gathered her stuff for the baths before the rest of the girls came.

The springs were empty when she approached and she enjoyed the quiet while it lasted. The outdoor springs was surrounded by a tall, wooden palisade to keep out prying eyes. She knew that the boys' bath was on the other side of the wall on the right. She could hear a few voices from there already.

She sat on the bench before the pool and pulled out her phone and sent a snapshot to her friends in the States, showing them the springs. She knew that Liz would be super jealous.

After she had sent the picture off with a smirk, she carefully rolled the phone in her clothes and stowed them in a locker in the changing room so it wouldn't get damaged.

She returned to the poolside and sat at the edge and dipped her feet in the steaming water. She sighed in relief at the feeling of the hot water meeting her skin. With a small splash, she submerged herself up to the chin and floated aimlessly.

The heat of the bath, combined with the cool night air made for the perfect hot springs scene. She kept her entire body under the surface as she explored the bath. It was natural, with rocks sticking out of the water to lean on and such.

"Hey, Rin, are you here?" She paddled back to the entrance and saw Nana standing there with a towel wrapped around her.

"The water is great, come on in," Rin invited. Nana slid in the water as well and let out a long sigh of contentment.

"I love hot springs," she said as she looked up to the open sky and the stars above. She leaned against a rock, water up to the base of her neck and closed her eyes.

Rin continued to wander aimlessly around the bath and inspected every corner. She could hear louder noises coming from cross the wall they shared with the boys and guessed that more had joined them. She really felt bad for the ones who weren't able to use the springs that night, but she quickly tuned her mind to other things.

Making her way slowly back to Nana, she asked, "Where are the other girls?" She leaned against the rock next to her friend.

"They are coming. They said they had to do something first," Nana replied quietly.

"Mmm," Rin hummed in acknowledgement, "I want to stay in here forever." She made a small tidal wave as she drew her arm in an arc through the water.

"You might pass out from the heat," Nana cautioned.

"I'll be careful," she answered.

About ten minutes later, the other girls came through the entrance and got into the bath as well, each sighing in relief as the heated water relaxed their muscles. They had a good conversation about sports and other stuff as they sat in the pool.

Nana told some stories about her experience in America while Rin told some whacked out stories about her friends and their prank-pulling at school.

"One night, we helped with some of our friends' senior prank which was to blockade the entire school," Rin shared. "We snuck in at, like, 12 am, and then we put all the desks against the all the doors in the school. It took around four and half hours to completely block all the doors. The superintendent's secretary was the first to show up and when she tried to open the doors, none of them opened because all the doors opened inward and they were all blocked!" Rin snickered at the memory.

"So wait, if all the doors were blocked, how did you guys get out?" A girl asked.

"We used a window escape and ran into the woods at the back of the school. We climbed a tree and sat there laughing our heads off as they tried to open the doors. It was freaking hilarious!" Rin slapped the water in amusement. The other girls chuckled too.

"Have any of you done anything prank-like lately?" She asked.

The girls all shook their heads. "What?! Why not?" She exclaimed in shock.

"Well, we never felt the need to, really," a girl answered.

Rin gaped like a fish on dry land. "Wha-How?! It's so fun! Especially the people's faces! And it's even better when you don't get caught." She grinned evilly as she reminisced about all the previous stunts she had done. There was the time with the frogs, then that time with the duct tape (that was a sticky one ;p) and then there was the whole fiasco with Jordan and Liz and the handcuffs. She burst out laughing at the memory.

The other girls looked at her like she was crazy, but before anyone could say a word, there was a loud crash and some frantic yelling.

As one, all the girls' head turned towards the source of the crash and saw that a section of the wooden wall that separated the girls' and the boys' bath had collapsed...spilling a pile of boys into the girls' part of the bath.

It was a scene of utter chaos as the boys tried to deny everything and run away while most of the girls screamed in shock and ducked under the water, still screaming; and then there was Nana and Rin who went after the boys with a vengeance, wrapped in pristine white towels.

Rin swiped at the ankles of the first boy she caught. It just so happened to be Oda. He stared up at her in horror and embarrassment written all over his blushing, red face. He was clearly a guilty one.

"Just what the hell do you think you pervs were doing, peeking in the girls and not to mention, collapsing the wall?" Rin growled threateningly at the cowering midfielder underneath her foot.

"We didn't do anything, I swear it!" Oda struggled and screamed like a girl.

"That is the biggest BS lie I've ever heard," Rin snapped. "What a bunch of idiotic perverts!" She glared down at him and cracked her knuckles and grinned evilly. "I think it's time for some well-deserved punishment."

With that, her quarry paled significantly.

* * *

**Another chapter! SHOCK!**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"You did what?" Iwaki asked incredulously as he paced in front of his star players, all kneeling shamefaced in front of him. None of the boys said a word. Each had some mark or bruise on them to show their guiltiness, courtesy of the two female strikers.

"They were peeking on us and then they made the wall fall down." Nana stated.

Iwaki looked at her and then at his players again. There was a moment of tense silence and then he asked, "Did you see anything?" All the teenagers in the room gaped at their coach in shock. The boys were floored! They had fully expected to get blasted by their coach, now here he was asking them if their plan was successful! The two females in the room, however, were thinking along a different line; one more of exasperation, rather than shock. _Boys,_ they rolled their eyes at the thought.

Iwaki cleared his throat hurriedly and amended his previous question. "What I meant to say was, 'What were you thinking, trying to look at the girls?! How shameful!' Yes, that's what I wanted to say." He fought down a blush and glanced at Nana and Rin who were rolling their eyes.

Both girls sighed and Rin spoke in an off-handed manner, "It's fine, just drop it already. I'm tired and we already got our revenge on these idiots." She indicated the various marks on the boys to demonstrate her statement.

Iwaki sighed, "You two can go to bed, but I'll stay and talk with these misbehaving troublemakers." The girls exited the room without another word about the subject except a casual goodnight and closed the door after them.

There were a few moments of silence in the room after the door had closed behind the girls and then Iwaki turned to the boys and raised an eyebrow and asked, "So, that ended rather disastrously for you, now didn't it?"

...

The next morning, Iwaki had the girls wake up the boys before dawn, again, and run the same exercise they had done the previous day. This time, everyone knew what to expect so they got right to the chase, literally.

Rin once again was in a horrible mood and tagged about half of the club. However, after she had a carton of milk, she mellowed out and went back to normal.

The dining room was nearly silent as the boys were exhausted from the morning run and all the training exercises they had done the previous day. Rin didn't talk to anyone either and instead was on the internet on her phone the entire time.

As the boys followed Iwaki into the forest to start their training again, Rin stayed behind and slipped into the hot springs. It was the time of morning before the sun had become full strength and she wanted to enjoy a good soak before starting the day and with no one else around.

As she relaxed in the bath, she looked to the wall the boys had knocked over and saw that the repair men had strung a thick canvas across the gap. She didn't have to worry about anyone seeing since all the boys were training. She took a quick picture of the tarp and sent it to her friends.

A few minutes later, she got a response from Liz.

_What a hoot! _The message read.

_Yeah, it was funny after we beat up all the ones who did it._

_Dude, I wish I was there right now!_

_Soon soon. Patience child._

_Bleehh!_

She chuckled at her friend's maturity level, which was next to zero. She spent another half an hour in the bath, texting Liz and some other friends back home, catching up and swapping stories and gossip.

She finally got out when the sun was making the air too hot to be in the hot springs. She decided to find the boys and set out with her water bottle and phone. Iwaki had told her that they were going to the same place as yesterday, so she headed there without getting lost.

She entered the scene just as Araki was being put in a headlock by Oda. She stared at the pair curiously. "What are you two doing?" She asked.

Oda looked up and then replied, "I am teaching him a lesson." Rin nodded in response.

"Oh, okay. Have fun, then, I guess," she went to stand next to Nana who was keeping time for the exercises.

…

The time at the training camp went by in a flash and soon it was time for the promised free day to enjoy the park or doing anything the team wanted.

A bunch of the kids elected to stay at the hotel to nurse their sore bodies while Rin and the others practically ran to the amusement park. Rin had been anxiously waiting for the camp to end so she could go to the park again. This amusement park was considerably smaller than the previous one she had gone to, but it still had a few good rides.

Her enthusiasm wasn't alone as the others were extremely grateful and beyond excited that Iwaki had given the them the day off. They arrived at the park entrance at mid-morning, just beating the afternoon traffic and bought their tickets. Immediately after passing through the gates, Rin dragged Araki and Oda to the nearest roller coaster and got on. It didn't have the same big hills and the ride was shorter than the other one, but it was still enough to get her heart leaping into her chest with every jerk and drop that the machine experienced.

After that, they went on the ride called The Tower. It was a tall tower to which a box with seats attached to it rose and fell at random intervals. From the bottom of the tall structure, the group could hear the screams of the current riders.

Nana backed out along with Kakeru. Surprisingly, Takase along said he didn't want to go on. With that, Rin, Oda, Araki, Mako, Kaoru and Kota strapped themselves into the seats along with a few other teenagers and the ride began to rapidly ascend.

As the ground got further and further away, Rin's anxiety began to make itself known. She hadn't really been thinking when she had gone on this ride. She hated heights with a passion. The only reason she could stand the roller coasters was because the thrill overtook the fear.

Now, however, she had plenty of time to curse herself out as the ride kept going up, and up and up. She gulped and squeezed her eyes shut, praying that it would be over soon. She really shouldn't have gone on this ride.

Suddenly, without any warning, the ride dropped and Rin let out a shrill scream of surprise as the rush of wind blew her hair straight up. She stared, riveted, at the ground below them as it came closer and closer.

The ride came to an abrupt halt and began its rapid ascend again. Rin clutched the chest restraints with white knuckles and kept her eyes tightly closed. She could hear the excited voices of her teammates in their seats and she wanted nothing more than for the ride to end so she could get her feet back on solid ground again.

Unfortunately, the ride rose and dropped for another three agonizing minutes, before gently coming to a complete stop at the boarding platform.

Rin struggled out of her seat restraints as fast as she possibly could and stumbled off the deck and down the stairs to where Nana, Kakeru and Takase were waiting. She latched onto Nana and didn't let go for a while.

The brown haired girl patted her friend on the back, comfortingly. "How was it?"

"F-freaking terrible. I'm never doing t-that again," Rin mumbled miserably into her friend's shoulder.

"It's okay. I forgot you were scared of heights."

Rin stepped back and adjusted her ponytail. "Yeah, so did I. Ironic, right?" Nana smiled and nodded.

For the next few hours, Rin went on nothing but the small, children rides. She got quite a few strange looks from the kids, as well as whispers from behind raised hands from the parents, but the striker didn't pay them any mind. She wasn't interested in getting a thrill anymore. All she wanted to do was calm her mind down and relax a little.

This was the reason why she was now preparing to ride the Merry-go-Round. She selected a white, princess-looking pony and hopped into the saddle. Next to her was a little girl about five years old and what appeared to be her older brother.

The brother looked like he'd rather be anywhere, but the Merry-go-Round with his little sister. His sister, on the other hand, was bouncing up and down excitedly on the fake pony and chattering away a mile-a-minute. The boy and Rin's eyes locked for a brief moment and she threw him a sympathetic glance. He returned it with a shrug of resignation.

The ride started up, along with the happy music and the ride started to twirl slowly. The little girl started yelling in glee as her pony bobbed up and down at regular intervals. The boy had a hand secured around his sister's waist because the way she was flopping around in the saddle, she was bound to fall off.

As the ride made its second trip around, she spotted Nana and Kakeru standing at the edge of the fence, waving. Behind them stood Oda with a judging look on his face. As she passed them, she stuck her tongue out at the midfielder.

The boy jumped in surprise at the motion and gave her a confused look. "Excuse me?" he asked.

"Oh, not you, someone who was judging me for riding the Merry-go-Round," Rin quickly assured him that she hadn't been doing the rude gesture towards him.

"Oh, okay," the boy said slowly and returned his attention back to his phone. Rin sighed and rolled her eyes. The guy most likely thought she had a screw loose or something! _Just great_, she groaned silently.

The ride was coming to a stop when she felt a hard tug on her pony tail. She turned around in surprise and saw that the little girl from before was leaning half out of her saddle, one hand pulling against the straining reins and the other clutching a handful of her long, black ponytail.

"Holy cra-crabs!" Rin burst out as she whirled around to steady the little girl who was about to fall. She sat the girl straight again and saw that her brother, who was supposed to be watching her, was busy texting while leaning against the carriage next to the pony.

When the ride stopped completely, she lifted the girl down from the pony and tapped the boy on the shoulder. He looked up in surprise, an owlish and slightly guilty look on his face. Rin indicated the small girl attached to her leg. "Weren't you supposed to be watching her? She almost fell and knocked herself out!"

The boy glared at her and then at his sister. "Sorry," he muttered. He held his hand out for the girl and she took it with a big smile. Rin glared at him as they walked off the ride. She wanted to slap some sense into the decrepit teenaged brain of his, but refrained for the fact that there were many small children present.

She settled with a sigh and stepped off the Merry-go-Round and went to find her friends. Oda snickered as she approached the trio and she shot him a dirty look. "And what, exactly, is wrong with riding the Merry-go-Round?" She challenged.

Oda quickly stifled his laughing and cleared his throat. "Nothing, nothing at all. You are free, _pfft_, to be, _heheh_, as childish, _pffft_, as you wish, _haha_," he did a terrible job of concealing the returning laughter as he said this.

Rin shared an exasperated look with Nana and the two girls sighed. _Boys_, they shook their heads.

* * *

**Hehehe Bahamas tomorrow! This is a generous gift from me since I won't be here for most of break :)**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 13

The next day, Iwaki woke the club members early to get on their bus. It was a long ride back and he wanted to get started.

Luckily, he brought a small glass of milk with him when he went to wake the girls up because Rin had nearly thrown him out the window. However, he had shoved the glass into her hand and she had calmed down and proceeded to get out of bed and gather the loose items she hadn't packed the night before.

Within thirty minutes, the boys and girls were on the bus and driving down the road. Rin cuddled up in her sweatshirt and leaned against the window; she fell asleep again for a good three hours. In the seat next to her, Nana had her head resting on her companion's shoulder and was also dozing.

A few hours into the trip, everyone began to wake up when the light became too bright. Rin put a DVD into her laptop and she and Nana watched How to Train Your Dragon. An hour after the movie was over; they finally pulled into the Enoshima school campus and disembarked.

"Ah! My legs are free!" Rin stretched as she got off the bus. She shook each leg in turn and then went to get her bags from the back.

Captain Sawamura and Ryoma were piling all the bags beside the bus. Ryoma handed her bag to her and she thanked him as she took it. Iwaki called the club together for a brief meeting before everyone went home.

"Good work, kids." He smiled at everyone and they all smiled back. "You have grown tremendously these past few days. Go home and get rest. Tomorrow, we will pick back up where we left off." He dismissed the kids with a wave of the hand and the club members dispersed.

Rin was offered a ride home from Kakeru's mom and she accepted. In the car, she fell asleep again as Kakeru and Nana filled Mrs. Aizawa in on all the details of the training camp. Kakeru woke her up when they reached her apartment and he helped her with her suitcase.

"Thanks, Kakeru," she said as she opened the door.

"No problem!" The striker grinned. "See you tomorrow!" He waved and Nana waved from the car window. Rin smiled and waved back and waited until the car drove off before closing the door.

As she stood in the entrance way of her apartment, she looked around at the quiet place and sighed loudly. As much as she hated to admit it, she missed her mother and father. As much as the couple drove her crazy, she loved her parents dearly. Shaking off the sudden depression that had washed over her, she went to take a long, hot shower.

…

"Hey! Pass it here!" Mako yelled as he made a diagonal run towards the open space on the defense's left side.

Rin quickly maneuvered past an opposing midfielder and then passed a long ball that landed at Mako's feet. He had a direct line to the goal and he tapped the ball once to get it under control, another time to set himself up and then on the third touch, he sent the white and black sphere rocketing towards the goal.

Reo just managed to block the shot and punch it out of the goalie box. His defenders swarmed the ball and passed it up the field. Mako glared at the goalie. "Aw! I wanted to score on you!"

Reo smirked and retorted, "Not in this life!" Mako pouted as he ran back up the field towards his side of the field.

Ten minutes later, Ryoma stole the ball from the opposing team's midfielder and made a long pass to Rin who was on the last defender on the left side. She twirled past her defender with a few tricks and then took a strong shot from about twenty yards out. The ball's path made it seem like it was going to go out, but then it began to curve and landed in the upper ninety of the goal's far post. She high-fived Kota and then did a back hand-spring.

"Yes! I haven't lost my touch!" She crowed as she skipped back to her position.

Ryoma gave her a stern look. "Keep focused. The game isn't over."

She ignored his serious attitude and shrugged. "I know. I'm just happy!" She did another little happy-dance before the game restarted.

…

"Where are you going?" Rin asked Nana as the other girl walked away from the normal soccer fields.

She stopped and turned around. "I offered to make an appearance at the elementary school down the road. Want to come?"

Rin caught up and walked beside her friend. "Sure! I would love that!" Nana grinned.

"Great! Now I won't be lonely!"

The elementary soccer coach for the girls' team was a woman who couldn't be past her late thirties and still had plenty of energy and drive to teach a bunch of fifth and sixth graders.

"I'm so glad you could make it, Ms. Mishima," the woman said as she greeted the pair at the gate.

Nana smiled, "No problem, Mrs. Yama. I brought my friend, is that okay? She's a United State's national youth player." She introduced Rin who bowed in respect.

Mrs. Yama looked appraisingly at the second girl and nodded, "I see no problem. Thank you for coming," she bowed her head to Rin.

"Well, I get to see the young players and me and my friends often do demonstrations for the younger teams back home. I'm honored," she replied.

"The kids are so excited to see you, especially since you aren't that older than they are," Mrs. Yama led them around the school, to the back where the soccer fields were. They saw a boys' team running around on one of the fields and on the other, was the girls' team, sitting in a circle, laughing and talking.

"Girls!" Mrs. Yama called as the trio walked on the field. "Ms. Mishima and her friend have come." She met by close to thirty girls jumping up and screaming in delight. They ran over to the teenage girls and huddled around with wonder sparkling in their eyes.

"Wow! It's really Nana Mishima!"

"She's so cool!"

"I can't believe she's really here!"

"I think I'm going to faint!"

"Who's the other girl?"

"Do you think she's strong?"

Rin listened to the chatter of the girls surrounding them with an amused expression. The wonder and awe that the younger kids held the older players in amazed the foreign striker every time. She could remember her own wonder and excitement when she had met the senior women's national team for the first time when she was ten. That had spurred her wish to play for them and led her onto the road to playing professional soccer.

"Girls, girls!" Mrs. Yama tried to get the excited elementary girls to step back and let the visitors breathe. "You're suffocating them. I'm sure they'll be happy to introduce themselves and to show some tricks." The girls reluctantly peeled themselves off the smothered teens and step back, but they stayed within arm's reach.

Nana laughed, "I'm sure you all know me, already, but this is my friend from America," she indicated Rin who waved.

"My name is Rin Faolin. I am a member of the U-17 Women's National Team."

"Wow!" All the girls chorused.

"Let's do some tricks," Nana said to Rin and the latter nodded eagerly.

While the elementary girls crowded to one side of the field, Nana and Rin began to juggle a soccer ball between them; passing it back and forth with their feet, knees and heads, without letting the ball touch the ground. Rin could hear the kids muttering while she passed the ball with Nana and she couldn't help but grin at their enthusiasm.

"Let me try!" A brave voice shouted. A sixth grade girl with her hair in pigtails stepped forward with a determined look in her eye.

"Alright, join in," Nana said, as she suddenly passed the ball to their girl.

With a surprised gasp, the girl tried to chest the ball, but it hit her shoulder and bounced away. Her face burned with embarrassment as she looked at the ball on the ground. Rin motioned to another girl to pass it to and a fifth grader made a swift pass to her foot. With her toe, she flicked the ball and bounced it on her knee as she waited for Nana to finish consoling the humiliated sixth grader.

"It's fine," Nana said to the girl, "I should have warned you first. It's my fault."

The girl sniffed and shook her head. "No, I wasn't paying attention. Can I try again?" She asked, timidly.

Nana grinned at her, "Of course you can!" She stood up and motioned for Rin to pass the ball. The other did so with a skilled header and Nana juggled it a few times before passing it, this time, carefully, to the little girl.

She caught it with her knee and made it to three juggles before she tried to pass it to Rin, but she missed judged her kick and her foot flailed past the ball as it hit the ground.

"Nice job!" The girls on her team cheered. The girl looked at them bashfully and turned her eyes towards the ground.

"But, I Messed up…" she mumbled.

Rin waved a hand in the air dismissively. "Don't worry about it. It takes lots of practice. You'll be a pro in no time."

The girl looked up at her and gave a small smile. "Do you really think so?"

"Definitely." Nana and Rin replied.

* * *

**I am SO sorry for never updating this story, but I am suffering from some serious lack of motivation and ideas. **

**To be honest, I've been more focused on drawing and my art stuff, and school (SHOCK), and stressing over track and my future and...everything except my writing.**

**Anyway, this is most likely the last chapter before I end it. I've already added so much more than I had planned and it has taken me ~forever~.**

**Some good news is that my school has unblocked FanFiction so I can update during my free periods! MWAHAHAHA!**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The next day, Iwaki woke the club members early to get on their bus. It was a long ride back and he wanted to get started.

Luckily, he brought a small glass of milk with him when he went to wake the girls up because Rin had nearly thrown him out the window. However, he had shoved the glass into her hand and she had calmed down and proceeded to get out of bed and gather the loose items she hadn't packed the night before.

Within thirty minutes, the boys and girls were on the bus and driving down the road. Rin cuddled up in her sweatshirt and leaned against the window; she fell asleep again for a good three hours. In the seat next to her, Nana had her head resting on her companion's shoulder and was also dozing.

A few hours into the trip, everyone began to wake up when the light became too bright. Rin put a DVD into her laptop and she and Nana watched How to Train Your Dragon. An hour after the movie was over; they finally pulled into the Enoshima school campus and disembarked.

"Ah! My legs are free!" Rin stretched as she got off the bus. She shook each leg in turn and then went to get her bags from the back.

Captain Sawamura and Ryoma were piling all the bags beside the bus. Ryoma handed her bag to her and she thanked him as she took it. Iwaki called the club together for a brief meeting before everyone went home.

"Good work, kids." He smiled at everyone and they all smiled back. "You have grown tremendously these past few days. Next week, you will have two days off because I have to attend my grandmother's funeral. Kondo-sensei will be here if you would like to have a practice, but it isn't mandatory. That's it. Go home and get rest. Tomorrow, we will pick back up where we left off." He dismissed the kids with a wave of the hand and the club members dispersed.

Rin was offered a ride home from Kakeru's mom and she accepted. In the car, she fell asleep again as Kakeru and Nana filled Mrs. Aizawa in on all the details of the training camp. Kakeru woke her up when they reached her apartment and he helped her with her suitcase.

"Thanks, Kakeru," she said as she opened the door.

"No problem!" The striker grinned. "See you tomorrow!" He waved and Nana waved from the car window. Rin smiled and waved back and waited until the car drove off before closing the door.

As she stood in the entrance way of her apartment, she looked around at the quiet place and sighed loudly. As much as she hated to admit it, she missed her mother and father. As much as the couple drove her crazy, she loved her parents dearly. Shaking off the sudden depression that had washed over her, she went to take a long, hot shower.

…

"Hey! Pass it here!" Mako yelled as he made a diagonal run towards the open space on the defense's left side.

Rin quickly maneuvered past an opposing midfielder and then passed a long ball that landed at Mako's feet. He had a direct line to the goal and he tapped the ball once to get it under control, another time to set himself up and then on the third touch, he sent the white and black sphere rocketing towards the goal.

Reo just managed to block the shot and punch it out of the goalie box. His defenders swarmed the ball and passed it up the field. Mako glared at the goalie. "Aw! I wanted to score on you!"

Reo smirked and retorted, "Not in this life!" Mako pouted as he ran back up the field towards his side of the field.

Ten minutes later, Ryoma stole the ball from the opposing team's midfielder and made a long pass to Rin who was on the last defender on the left side. She twirled past her defender with a few tricks and then took a strong shot from about twenty yards out. The ball's path made it seem like it was going to go out, but then it began to curve and landed in the upper ninety of the goal's far post. She high-fived Kota and then did a back hand-spring.

"Yes! I haven't lost my touch!" She crowed as she skipped back to her position.

Ryoma gave her a stern look. "Keep focused. The game isn't over."

She ignored his serious attitude and shrugged. "I know. I'm just happy!" She did another little happy-dance before the game restarted.

…

"Where are you going?" Rin asked Nana as the other girl walked away from the normal soccer fields.

She stopped and turned around. "I offered to make an appearance at the elementary school down the road. Want to come?"

Rin caught up and walked beside her friend. "Sure! I would love that!" Nana grinned.

"Great! Now I won't be lonely!"

The elementary soccer coach for the girls' team was a woman who couldn't be past her late thirties and still had plenty of energy and drive to teach a bunch of fifth and sixth graders.

"I'm so glad you could make it, Ms. Mishima," the woman said as she greeted the pair at the gate.

Nana smiled, "No problem, Mrs. Yama. I brought my friend, is that okay? She's a United State's national youth player." She introduced Rin who bowed in respect.

Mrs. Yama looked appraisingly at the second girl and nodded, "I see no problem. Thank you for coming," she bowed her head to Rin.

"Well, I get to see the young players and me and my friends often do demonstrations for the younger teams back home. I'm honored," she replied.

"The kids are so excited to see you, especially since you aren't that older than they are," Mrs. Yama led them around the school, to the back where the soccer fields were. They saw a boys' team running around on one of the fields and on the other, was the girls' team, sitting in a circle, laughing and talking.

"Girls!" Mrs. Yama called as the trio walked on the field. "Ms. Mishima and her friend have come." She met by close to thirty girls jumping up and screaming in delight. They ran over to the teenage girls and huddled around with wonder sparkling in their eyes.

"Wow! It's really Nana Mishima!"

"She's so cool!"

"I can't believe she's really here!"

"I think I'm going to faint!"

"Who's the other girl?"

"Do you think she's strong?"

Rin listened to the chatter of the girls surrounding them with an amused expression. The wonder and awe that the younger kids held the older players in amazed the foreign striker every time. She could remember her own wonder and excitement when she had met the senior women's national team for the first time when she was ten. That had spurred her wish to play for them and led her onto the road to playing professional soccer.

"Girls, girls!" Mrs. Yama tried to get the excited elementary girls to step back and let the visitors breathe. "You're suffocating them. I'm sure they'll be happy to introduce themselves and to show some tricks." The girls reluctantly peeled themselves off the smothered teens and step back, but they stayed within arm's reach.

Nana laughed, "I'm sure you all know me, already, but this is my friend from America," she indicated Rin who waved.

"My name is Rin Faolin. I am a member of the U-17 Women's National Team."

"Wow!" All the girls chorused.

"Let's do some tricks," Nana said to Rin and the latter nodded eagerly.

While the elementary girls crowded to one side of the field, Nana and Rin began to juggle a soccer ball between them; passing it back and forth with their feet, knees and heads, without letting the ball touch the ground. Rin could hear the kids muttering while she passed the ball with Nana and she couldn't help but grin at their enthusiasm.

"Let me try!" A brave voice shouted. A sixth grade girl with her hair in pigtails stepped forward with a determined look in her eye.

"Alright, join in," Nana said, as she suddenly passed the ball to their girl.

With a surprised gasp, the girl tried to chest the ball, but it hit her shoulder and bounced away. Her face burned with embarrassment as she looked at the ball on the ground. Rin motioned to another girl to pass it to and a fifth grader made a swift pass to her foot. With her toe, she flicked the ball and bounced it on her knee as she waited for Nana to finish consoling the humiliated sixth grader.

"It's fine," Nana said to the girl, "I should have warned you first. It's my fault."

The girl sniffed and shook her head. "No, I wasn't paying attention. Can I try again?" She asked, timidly.

Nana grinned at her, "Of course you can!" She stood up and motioned for Rin to pass the ball. The other did so with a skilled header and Nana juggled it a few times before passing it, this time, carefully, to the little girl.

She caught it with her knee and made it to three juggles before she tried to pass it to Rin, but she missed judged her kick and her foot flailed past the ball as it hit the ground.

"Nice job!" The girls on her team cheered. The girl looked at them bashfully and turned her eyes towards the ground.

"But, I Messed up…" she mumbled.

Rin waved a hand in the air dismissively. "Don't worry about it. It takes lots of practice. You'll be a pro in no time."

The girl looked up at her and gave a small smile. "Do you really think so?"

"Definitely." Nana and Rin replied.

* * *

**I am SO sorry for never updating this story, but I am suffering from some serious lack of motivation and ideas. **

**To be honest, I've been more focused on drawing and my art stuff, and school (SHOCK), and stressing over track and my future and...everything except my writing.**

**Anyway, this is most likely the last chapter before I end it. I've already added so much more than I had planned and it has taken me ~forever~.**

**Some good news is that my school has unblocked FanFiction so I can update during my free periods! MWAHAHAHA!**


	14. Chapter 14

"That was fun," Rin said as the pair walked back from the elementary school. They played a lot of games with the little kids and taught them some tricks. Rin had put on a show of her favorite freestyle routine which had all the kids watching with wide eyes at the way the ball seemed to spin and fly up on its own.

"Where did you learn the freestyle?" Nana asked as they walked.

"I saw a girl at a weekend tournament practicing and it looked amazing. I watched a lot of videos and practiced. Lots of practice," she rolled her eyes, yet her face had an amused smirk on it.

"Can you use it in a game?" Nana asked, interested.

Her companion shrugged, "Kind of, well, it's a bit different from regular juggling, as you know. I've never tried it in a game, but I would imagine some tricks would be useful, while others won't be."

Nana nodded, "That makes sense."

The two walked in silence for another couple seconds before Nana asked, "Do you miss everyone in America?"

"Of course," the answer was immediate and delivered without hesitation. "However, I have met a bunch of new and amazing people here, so I'm not lonely." She grinned at Nana and the girl smiled back.

"That's good; I was a little bit scared that you wouldn't like it here at first. You didn't seem too enthused that Enoshima didn't have a girls' soccer team."

"I wasn't happy about that, but I got to spend a lot of time with the boys and you, so I'm not complaining, too much. To be honest, the break has been nice." Rin laughed, at home, she was always complaining about practices and the strict diets the coaches put them on. Here, she didn't have to worry about any of that.

"Oh yeah," she snapped her fingers as she remembered something; "Coach said that there's no practice Saturday and Sunday of next week because of a funeral or something."

"Oh right, he told me a couple of days ago. It's so sad that his grandmother died," both girls sighed in sympathy.

"I know, all my relatives are still alive; I can't imagine if one of them died," Rin thought about her grandparents, both sets were in their early seventies to late eighties, but they were still full of live and energy. To lose even one would be devastating.

"Well, hopefully that doesn't happen for along time." Nana said. "Let's run, I'm late for dinner." She started jogging towards the school and Rin fell into step beside her.

At the school, they saw Kakeru and Ryoma waiting for them; everyone else had already gone home. Kakeru and Nana walked home together and Ryoma awkwardly walked with Rin to her apartment.

"Where did you guys go?" Ryoma asked, finally breaking the silence between them.

"To the elementary school to play with the **munchkins**," Rin answered with a light laugh.

"**M-mun**-what?" Ryoma asked, stumbling over the English word.

She laughed, "**Munchkin** means little kids, you know," she held her hand at waist height as she explained.

"Oh," he narrowed his eyes as he mulled over the unfamiliar word.

The rest of the walk was spent in silence with Ryoma internally freaking out in his head and Rin debating if she should start a conversation or something to break the tense silence between them. Her palms were starting to become sticky with nervousness. They reached her apartment without saying a word and they stopped, each turning to each other, waiting for the other to say something.

"Yes?" Rin prodded him in the stomach with her finger. She might as well start it off, seeing as she was trying hard not let her emotions show on her face. Ryoma wasn't looking too good either; he looked like he was about to pass out from how red his face was and he was stubbornly keeping his mouth in a straight line.

"Huh? Uh, um…" Ryoma replied intelligently. He cleared his throat and nervously put his hand on his neck as he looked at a place just over her right shoulder. "Uh, see you tomorrow, I guess." He tried to smile, but it came out as more of a twist of the lips.

Rin smiled and lifted a hand in farewell, heart thumping loudly at his embarrassed expression. "Okay, see you tomorrow, then."

Ryoma looked like he wanted to say something else so she waited a second before deciding he wasn't going to say anything. She opened her door and waved to him again as she slowly closed it, giving him plenty of time to say whatever was written all over his face. A part of her wanted to hear what he would say and another part didn't.

"Yeah, see you," he muttered to himself as the door closed and he walked away, head a mess and mad at himself. He kicked a pebble in the road and heaved a heavy sigh as he ran a hand through his hair.

Behind the door, Rin exhaled her pent-up breath and peeked out of the window to watch Ryoma walk down the street, slapping himself in the head as he went. She couldn't help but notice how adorable he was.

"Wait, where the hell did _that_ thought come from?!" She quickly ducked away from the window and went into the kitchen.

…

Down the road, Ryoma was berating himself for his mind going blank during the most opportune moments. _I'm such an idiot! How come I couldn't think of anything except, "See you tomorrow,"?! Now she thinks that I'm weird! This is just fantastic! Way to go Ryoma. _He sighed and rubbed his hand over his face as he walked. _Another time, _he resolved. _I'll say something another time. I have to do it before someone else does._

…

Rin lay on top of her covers with her hands behind her head as she stared blankly at the ceiling. Her thoughts raced around in her head and it was giving her a headache. She couldn't figure out her feelings for the tall midfielder. Of course she has had crushes before, but she had never truly dated or even liked someone the way she did now.

She had plenty of male best friends at home who were all drop-dead gorgeous and deserved to be supermodels, but none of them made her heart beat quite like it did whenever she saw Ryoma. She groaned and rolled onto her side and slapped her hands over her face in frustration and embarrassment.

She didn't know how to deal with these strange feelings and it was killing her. _Why am I so caught up on a guy?!_ She berated herself for her indecision. No one had ever caught her interest before and now, here she was, wallowing in confusion and indecision.

_I need to get a life,_ she told herself. Ryoma was just another guy that happened to make her feel like her skin was going to catch fire whenever he looked at or talked to her.

"What do I do?" She groaned as she rolled back and forth on her bed, head gripped between her hands. "I don't know what to do!" She didn't want to ruin a great friendship, but at the same time, she felt like she could take a chance.

"I'm not like Jamie, I can't do this whole dating and love thing!" Jamie was a friend who played tennis and she was beautiful and had a line of boys out the door trying to date her. She was beautiful, smart, kind and always knew what to do when it came to dating and love advice. Rin looked at her phone and debated on texting her all-knowing friend, but decided against it. If Liz or Tsubaki caught wind of her being torn up over some guy, they would never let it go.

_Maybe I'll just keep being his friend. That way, I don't mess anything up. I'd make a sucky girlfriend anyway._ Rin finally thought. Being friends really did seem the safest route. She had no idea of his feelings and she was not comfortable with putting herself out there like that; to make herself so vulnerable towards another, especially a _guy_.

_This way, everything will stay the same and nothing will be awkward or weird. It's all I can hope for at this point. _With a final sigh, she sat up and crawled under her covers and pulled them up to her chin. _Just forget about it, Rin, and go to sleep. You don't want to mess this up._ A final sigh escaped her lips as she rolled onto her side and fell into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

**It's been nearly two weeks. I can't believe it; it feels like it's been two months since I last updated. **

**So this is not the last chapter, I think the next one will be and I'm trying to figure out a good ending and make it long to apologize for the crappy quality of the rest of the story.**


	15. Chapter 15

**This is the last chapter. Finally.**

* * *

Rin walked into the school with a drag in her step. She had hardly got any sleep the night before, her dreams were plagued with Ryoma and her wild thoughts had kept her from getting any rest. She made it to her shoe locker without running into anyone and she wearily opened the small door. With the speed of a slug, she replaced her indoor shoes with her outdoor ones and clicked the locker shut.

"What's wrong with you?" A voice asked in concern at her side.

"Nana," she turned to regard the other girl with tired, half-mast eyes.

"You look terrible," her friend commented as she took in Rin's unusually messy appearance.

"I didn't get a lot of sleep last night," she explained as she started down the hall.

"Was it a nightmare?" Nana asked, following her friend.

Rin paused and thought about her answer. "Yeah," she lied lamely. "I normally don't have nightmares this bad; I think it was because I watched a horror movie before going to bed." She winced as she lied to her friend. She didn't want to, but she didn't want to say she was having problems figuring out her feelings over a boy. She felt pathetic.

The other girl didn't seem to notice her friend's distress and nodded in sympathy. "You're scared to death of ghosts, aren't you? You shouldn't be watching that stuff."

With relief, Rin nodded and laughed weakly, "Yeah, it was really stupid of me. I'll see you later," she waved to her friend as she headed up the stairs and Nana continued down the corridor.

"See you at practice!" Nana called after her friend. As she watched Rin take the stairs two at a time she had a contemplative look on her face. She knew right away that Rin had been lying about watching a horror movie. She knew that there was no way she would even go near the movie case, let alone watch one.

She wandered down the hall; trying to rack her brain to figure out what could possible by bothering the foreigner. She came to her classroom and she still hadn't found an answer. "Should I confront her about it?" She wondered as she walked in.

"Confront who about what?" Kakaeru asked.

Nana shook her head, "Oh, nothing, just some girl problems."

"Oh, boring," Kakeru snickered and she glared at him.

…

"Hey, Rin, can you come here for a minute?" Nana called to the striker as she jogged around the field.

"What is it?" Rin asked as she jogged over and picked up her water bottle. She unscrewed the top and took a long, satisfying drink.

"Not here, come with me," Nana pulled her around the corner of the building where they could barely hear the boys practicing.

"Is something wrong?" Rin asked, curious and a little frightened. She had never seen Nana this serious before.

Nana shook her head, "No nothing is wrong with me, but what about you?" She noticed Rin flinch when she said this. "You look terrible and you didn't even trap that perfect pass Araki sent you. You didn't really watch a horror movie, did you?" She crossed her arms, signaling that she wouldn't let Rin get away until she spilled the beans.

"I'm just tired. I had a nightmare, remember? Besides, who said I didn't watch a scary show last night?" Rin muttered, not looking at her.

"I highly doubt you had a nightmare and if you watched a scary movie, then you wouldn't have come to school and you'd be looking over your shoulder every other second. What is bothering you? You can tell me, I'm your friend," Nana reminded her.

Rin sighed and looked at her with tired, confused eyes. "I don't know what I should do. I've never felt this way before and it's scaring me."

"What do you mean?" Nana asked, concerned.

"R-uh, Ryo-him," Rin flapped her hand in the direction of the boys practice. She couldn't say his name.

"Ryo-ma?" Rin nodded and Nana breathed out in relief; she had thought it was something life-threatening. "What happened with Ryoma?" Her inner-fangirl was coming out, and she tried to squash the giggle in her voice. Rin would not appreciate it.

"I don't know! I-I feel all weird whenever I look at him or he looks at me and it sends shivers up my spine!" Rin groaned in distress.

"You like him." It was a statement, not a guess and Nana smiled when Rin went red up to her ears. "See?! I told you before that you guys are so adorable together!"

"But he's my friend and I've never dated anyone before and he might not even like me back! And I thought you were crazy before!" Rin flailed her arms around her head as she ranted about her concerns.

"Well, he definitely doesn't _dis_like you," Nana offered.

"I know he doesn't right now, but what if I tell him and then he doesn't feel the same way and then-aslkjhfrlkasjdladhfla!" Rin threw her hands up and then collapsed against the fence.

"I think he likes you." Rin stared at her incredulously.

"I think you're crazy."

Nana shook her head. "Nope, I think it's real. Call it a woman's intuition." She smirked.

"Then why don't _I_ have a woman's intuition?! I'm a girl!" Rin wailed. "Just promise me you won't say _anything_ to _anyone_!" Rin pleaded as she stared pleadingly at her friend and Nana crossed her heart.

"Promise."

…

"Nana, Rin! Want to get some ice cream with us?" Araki yelled across the field.

Both girls lifted their heads from the clipboard they were looking at and looked at the small group of boys gathered at the edge of the field, ready to head off. They looked at each other and then Nana put the clipboard in her bag.

"Yeah!" Rin yelled as she and Nana jogged across the field to join the boys.

"What made you guys want ice cream?" Nana asked as the group walked away from the school.

"We've been busy training like crazy lately and I thought it would do us some good to relax and get ice cream!" Araki explained.

Rin smirked and elbowed the genius in the side. "Are you sure you didn't just want to stuff your face?"

Araki glared at her and swatted her arm away. "I'm insulted you think so little of _me_," he did a fabulous hair toss and Rin snickered.

Nana watched the pair bicker back and forth and then glanced at Ryoma out of the corner of her eye. He was looking at the pair with a sour look on his face. His eyebrows were scrunched together and his eyes were narrowed as he glared at them. With a slight cough covering up her giggle, she shook her head. _Those two are hopeless_; she began humming to herself as they walked down the street.

…

"Can I get vanilla, please?" Rin asked the lady in the ice cream shop.

"Sure thing, sweetie," the woman smiled and set about making the group's orders. Behind the counter, with the woman, was a college student. He followed Rin with his eyes as she walked away to the table where her friends were sitting.

"Eyes on your work," his coworker snapped, jolting him out of his daze. He looked guiltily at her and then started filling orders again. "She is a beauty, though, isn't she? Both of them are," she whispered to the boy.

He snuck a look at the two girls of the party and nodded his agreement, both girls were quite the lookers, but he preferred the black-haired girl. "Yeah," he muttered.

A few minutes later, all the ice cream orders were done and the woman handed the tray with the dishes on it to the boy. "Here, you can take them." She smiled with a knowing look and the boy blushed.

He grabbed the tray and carefully walked it out to the table. "Your orders," he said quietly.

"Yay! Ice cream!" Mako yelled. He plucked his dish right off the tray and began eating it.

"Hey! Don't be so rude," Nana scolded her blonde friend. Mako shrugged and kept eating.

"Here is yours," the college boy gave out all of the orders, saving Rin's for last. "Here," he said. She took it from her hand and their fingers brushed.

"Thank you," she smiled at him and he felt his face heat up. He wuickly snatched his hand away and straightened.

"Y-you're welcome," he muttered. The boy felt a heated glare piercing the side of his head and he glanced to the right. He paled when he saw the glower Ryoma was giving him. _He must like her, too!_ He realized and he sighed in despair. He had thought that he would have a chance with this girl; however, not if she already had this guy.

"Yo, Ryoma, are you going to eat or let it melt all over the place?" Rin called both male's attention back to the melting ice cream in front of the midfielder.

"I'm eating, I'm eating," he muttered, glancing away from the boy. The boy quickly excused himself and hurried back to his anxiously waiting coworker.

"So…?" The woman looked at him with expectant eyes.

"She has a guard dog," the boy muttered in defeat.

The woman frowned. "Too bad. She's a real beauty, I tell you. What about the other one?" Both employees looked at the brown-haired girl and saw her wipe Kakeru's face with a napkin and laugh. They turned back to each other.

"You tried."

…

"That was refreshing. I haven't had ice cream in forever!" Rin let out a loud yawn as she stretched.

Araki snorted, "By the amount you ate, I wouldn't have noticed." She swiftly tried to trip him, but he dodged her foot. "Ha!" He snickered. Rin rolled her eyes.

"I love ice cream!" Kakeru piped up. He had a very satisfied look on his face. "I haven't had it for a long time either."

"How long?" Rin asked, twirling one ear bud of her iPod around her finger.

"Oh, about a couple weeks," the striker answered.

"My last ice cream was about six months ago. I don't eat it unless I get a really strong craving," she said casually, unwinding and rewinding the earphone around her index finger.

Several faces gawked at her, "SIX MONTHS?!" Araki cried in shock.

"How have you survived?" Mako demanded.

Rin shrugged, "I just don't really like it all that much."

The boys looked at her like she was an alien. "Weird one."

She rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Yes, not eating ice cream makes me weird. That makes total sense."

Several heads nodded solemnly. "It does."

She threw her hands up in defeat, the earphone swinging from her other ear. "I give up! I have to go home; I still have tons of homework!" She waved to the group as she walked away.

"See you tomorrow!" Nana called. She elbowed Ryoma and he looked at her in confusion. "Say good-bye," she ordered discretely.

"Uh, see ya, Rin!" He yelled after the striker.

Rin grinned, "Bye Ryoma!"

The midfielder flushed all the way to his ears and he turned to Nana. "What was that for?" He questioned.

Nana cleared her throat and caught up with Kakeru. "Nothing," she said, "it's only polite, after all." She didn't look back as she walked, leaving the midfielder confused.

_What did she mean by that? _He wondered.

"We'll leave you behind!" Araki yelled to the befuddled soccer player. Ryoma shook himself out of his bewilderment and ran to catch up with his friends.

…

The next evening, Rin skipped practice and took the time to wander around town, since she had not had a chance to really relax and look at all the shops and walk down all the streets around her apartment. She had gone out once to buy more workout clothes, but that had been the only store she had gone into.

Now, she strolled casually along the main street in town, the one with all of the stores and restaurants. She had one ear bud plugged into her ear as she walked, singing the words to herself. There were a few other people out on the road, mostly families with small kids and a few couples.

Passing a trio of teenage boys who were smoking, she gave them an exasperated glare out of the corner of her eye. She held her breath as she passed, not wanting to poison her lungs.

One noticed her glare and pushed off the railing he was lounging against, starting towards her.

_Just great!_ She grumbled to herself. She quickened her pace to get away, but the boy grabbed her shoulder and spun her around.

"Wha're you glarin' at, eh?" He flicked a couple of ashes off his cigarette and glared down at her.

Rin held her tongue as she stared back at the taller boy; his lisp was terrible. "Nothing, I'm going to the store. See you," she tried to go around him, but he blocked her way with his arm.

"Not so fast, girlie. You can't just walk by 'nd glare at us like we're some kinda scum 'r some'in. You gotta pay for that." He smirked as he delivered his hideous threat.

Rin resisted in letting out a snort and quickly coughed to cover it up. "I'm sorry for glaring at you, what else do you want?" She was getting tired of this little shit's shit.

The boy and his friends sneered at her apology and the second kid said, "Why don't you buy us some booze? I haven't had a drink for a long time!"

Rin looked at him like he was crazy. "_Excuse me?_ I'm not buying alcohol for a bunch of idiots! I can't even buy it myself! How old do you think I _am_?!" She put her hands on her hips and glared at the trio.

"Well what're you gonna do?" The third, a stick-thin fellow with sunken eyes, demanded. He twiddled with the burned out cigarette stub between his finger before flicking it onto the ground at her feet.

Rin didn't try to hide her snort of laughter. "What a bunch of jokers. I'm leaving." She turned and brushed aside the boy in front of her. "Move."

The boy tried to stop her, but she grabbed his wrist and twisted his hand back at a painful angle. "YEOWCH!" He screamed in an extremely un-manly manner. His knees buckled as he tried to get out of Rin's grip; his fac paper white and lips twisted in a pained grimace.

His two lackeys sprang forward to help, but Rin shifted so the boy she was holding captive was between her and his friends. "Leave me _alone_." With a final wrench, she pushed the guy into his friends and walked away.

"We'll get you for this!" The skinny kid squealed after her as he tried to console his injured friend. She held up her fingers in a peace sign and kept walking.

_What a bunch of idiots. They actually think they're all badass just because they skip school and smoke. That's not badass, that's just plain stupidity, _she get out a mocking bark of laughter. _I've seen kittens look more threatening than those three fools._ She looked down at the iPod and changed the song. When she looked up, her eyes widened and a grin slowly spread across her face. She saw just right remedy to lift her dark spirits.

"Is that a…a fast food restaurant?" She asked herself as she looked at the small store tucked in between a kids' toy store and a bank. She quickened her pace as she approached the restaurant and pulled open the door. The smell of French fries, grease, burgers, ketchup and other condiments hit her nose as she opened the door and she gave a contented sigh.

With a bounce in her step, she got into line, surveying the menu above the ordering counter as she waited. The door opened and a few people got into line behind her. "This is going to be a good night," she muttered to herself as the line shifted forward and she came up the counter.

* * *

**So, I tried to make it longer, but I don't think the ending was very good. I suck at endings anyway. Sigh.**

**I apologize for the downhill tumble this story took. I am taking a break from writing seeing as Regents and finals are in two weeks and my grades suck in most of my classes.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading this far, if you got to here.**


End file.
